Last Remnants
by Artful Lounger
Summary: At the end of service, on the last day before the servers shut down, thirty seven members of the Guild Ainz Ooal Gown were retired. The other three paid one last visit to the Great Tomb of Nazarick before going their own way, leaving Momonga alone. But what if those three stuck around until the end?
1. Chapter 1

Greetings one and all to my new story, based on a relatively new series that I've discovered and taken a liking to in recent months. There's more to be said, but I'll leave that for the author's notes at the bottom of the chapter. In the meantime, please enjoy. First things first, though….

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Overlord, the Light Novels, the anime, the manga, or any other portion of the business surrounding it. I wish I did though; I'd have certainly kept the licensing away from those clowns in Yen Press. I honestly believe that this series is going to rot on the vine because of them.

FAIR WARNING, this story will contain significant spoilers for the series Overlord. Furthermore, this story will be written assuming a certain amount of knowledge about the series, so some things may not be clearly explained because of this. I'll try to give some exposition for those who are reading this because of me and not because they've actually seen and enjoyed the series, but you've got to meet me halfway here. If you have not read Overlord, I urge you to do so. It's quite nice. Sure, it has its issues but hey what doesn't?

The translated Light Novels can be found on skythewood. Google 'skythewood Overlord' and you'll find their translation in short order. There is also an anime version, but I'm not honestly sure where to find it in good quality so you're on your own there. Regardless, this story will be written based on the Light Novel, rather than the anime, so those among you who have watched the anime already may notice some differences to what you're familiar with.

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Chapter One

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The year is 2138 AD, a place and time where games known as DMMORPG's not only exist but flourish. Meaning Dive Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, this form of entertainment became well known and very popular all across the globe. But among all the numerous titles now available, one stood out in many ways. The very first DMMORPG, YGGDRASIL.

Developed in Japan, and based primarily on Norse Mythology, the game was a massive hit when it first hit the shelves in 2126. Dive technology allowed a player to plug themselves into the game and engage in a truly first person experience by connecting a special console into the neuron nano-interface- an intra-cerebral nanocomputer network composed of the latest cyber technology and nanotechnology. Allowing for over seven hundred different racial classes, more than two thousand different job classes, and unprecedented amounts of player freedom to customize almost anything imaginable, YGGDRASIL was something that nobody had ever seen before. Even after several years passed and other DMMO games attempted to follow in YGGDRASIL's footsteps, the original article stood head and shoulders above all competitors.

But times change, technology advances, people move on, and what was once considered an unstoppable juggernaut was overtaken despite numerous attempts to stave off the inevitable.

Alas, the inevitable had arrived. Once considered utterly without equal, age and advancing technology had brought a titan low. YGGDRASIL, a game once considered to be the pinnacle of the gaming industry, was shutting down its servers once and for all after twelve years of service. Today at midnight, YGGDRASIL would end forever.

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The room was nothing short of luxurious. White marble columns stood at the walls of the circular chamber, surrounding a massive round table of obsidian luster. Forty one chairs stood around the piece of functional artwork, though calling them chairs was an insult to the quality of the materials and artistry used to create them. Until now only two of the chairs were occupied, but a figure materialized on the third, stirring no small amount of interest from those that were waiting.

"Well well, look who's here! I thought we had long since seen the last of you Herohero-san! Looks like our little band has increased to four."

"That's a bit of a rude way to put it, Tigris Euphrates-sama. Although, I will admit that I'm really surprised too. I didn't expect this many people to show up, even if it is the last day. Regardless, it's certainly good to see you again Herohero-sama."

"I don't really mind, it certainly has been a long time Momonga-sama, Tigris Euphrates-sama."

The newcomer to the conversation, Herohero, was far from human. In fact, it looked nothing less than a large pile of black goo that piled atop the seat it appeared upon. The surface of the lump, with the texture of tar, constantly quivered and never maintained a consistent shape. The only part that wasn't constantly shifting were two small, round pits that could perhaps be considered eyes.

The second speaker, Momonga, was at the same time more and less human. A skeleton wearing a jet black robe with gold and violet trim, there was not a single scrap of skin or flesh adorning his frame. The only indications of the creature being anything but a corpse were the red lights that burned in the eye sockets.

The one who spoke first was equally strange in a different way. Where the other two were roughly human sized, this figure towered over the two of them. Around ten feet tall when standing, his skin was a fiery red, his ears long, pointed, and pierced by a number of small golden rings, and his hands sported black nails that resembled talons more than anything else. His mouth was a wide wicked smile showing sharp teeth, his eyes were a burning yellow with slit pupils, and his short beard was black as coal and neatly pointed. Upon his head sat a turban of luxurious indigo cloth embroidered with golden script in some unknown language, and he wore a vest of the same color and style. Ornate rings adorned the ring finger on either hand, and his bare arms each had an armband of a deep green crystalline material encircling the biceps. Baggy pants of vermillion fabric embroidered in gold, a sash of dark golden cloth, an opulent necklace embedded with numerous jewels and curl-toed shoes of incredible quality completed the ensemble. He sat in a chair large enough to accommodate him, arms crossed, looking like some figure of Arabian myth.

Momonga was the one who kept the conversation going. "I think this is the first time you've logged in since you changed your job in real life right? Let's see, it would be about two years now right?"

The giant chuckled. "Has it really been so long? I've only logged in once every couple of months recently so I haven't noticed. They must be putting your nose to the grindstone Herohero-san."

The ooze let out a small, melancholic sound. "Has it really been that long already? Wow, I've been doing so many overtime shifts I've lost all track of time."

"Isn't that a dangerous sign? Are you okay?"

The ooze seemed to turn his 'head' towards the skeleton. "Physically? I've been run ragged. I'm starting to think about seeing a doctor. I hate this, but I still have to earn money to make ends meet so I've been working for dear life while being whipped like a slave."

Tigris Euphrates shook his head. "I do not envy you my friend."

Without being prompted, the ooze continued on in a gloomy voice, letting loose a tide of complaints of impudent subordinates, plans that were altered overnight, criticism from superiors for failing to meet his quotas, weeks pulling all-nighters to deal with unbelievable amounts of work, health issues, and the ever growing numbers of prescription drugs he was taking. Herohero's woes were let loose upon a captive audience like a burst dam.

While there were many who wanted to avoid talking about reality in the virtual world, this group was an exception. Their guild, Ainz Ooal Gown, had two conditions that one must fulfill to join. The first was to belong to one of the heteromorphic races; the second was to actually have a job and a life beyond the game.

With these conditions in place, complaints and talk about real life were regular topics of discussion.

After a fair amount of time, Herohero's tired rant ebbed and soon came to a halt. "I'm sorry for all of my endless complaining. I don't get many chances to vent on the other side." Herohero wiggled what seemed to be its head as if to bow.

Momonga quickly replied "It's okay, Herohero-sama. I was the one who asked you to come, even though you were exhausted."

Tigris added his own two cents. "There's nothing wrong with letting loose your troubles, but you're lucky Luci Fer-san was not here to hear all of that. You already know what he'd tell you."

Herohero only sighed. "Yes, I know. He'd tell me to quit, he'd say 'if it's really that bad then find a better job, it's not that hard'. The problem is that I know he's right, but finding a job isn't that easy you know? Especially if my superiors from my current job gave me bad references."

"You know what he'd say to that too."

The lump of midnight ooze seemed to slump. "You're right; he'd tell me to go into business for myself. But I can't do that. I can barely keep up with the work I have now, how much more work would I have to do to actually start and run my own company? How would I even get started? There are all kinds of issues with that idea. It can't be helped, I can't do it. Anyway, why are we talking about him? Is he here too? You mentioned something earlier about there being four of us."

The skeleton nodded. "That's right; including me you're the fourth person to log in today. Luci Fer-san is walking here right now. He said he wanted to take in the sights of Nazarick one last time before the server shut down so he teleported to the entrance and is taking the long way down. I thought it was a pretty good idea, but decided to wait here instead. If anyone else logged in, what would they think if there was nobody here to greet them right?"

An emotion appeared over the slime's head, the closest thing an in-game character could manage to smiling. "That's true, you've always been caring Momonga-sama, always doing your best to make sure that the rest of us could enjoy the game to the fullest." The head of the slime tilted around as he took in the room. "Honestly, I'm surprised that this place is still here."

At that moment, Momonga was truly grateful that he couldn't show facial expressions. He didn't want Herohero to see the face he would make at those words. He said nothing in response, not wanting those emotions to show in his voice.

Their other companion however had no such restraint. "It's true; Momonga-san is largely responsible for keeping this place up. I've helped out every now and again when I had some time, and Luci Fer-san helped even more than I did, but if it were not for our Guildmaster's efforts we can't be certain that this place would still exist."

Herohero looked between the two of them and said the only thing that came to his mind. "Thank you."

Momonga tried to control the surge of emotion that rose up within him when he heard his friend's heartfelt words. "As the Guildmaster, it is my duty to maintain and supervise this place so that anyone can come back whenever they please. We all built this place together, it would reflect badly upon me if I were to let it be destroyed without even trying to keep it going!"

Herohero's voice, which before held only melancholy and exhaustion, finally regained a bit of vigor. "Thank you very much, Momonga-sama. And you too, Tigris Euphrates-sama. I'm glad that I logged in and got to meet up."

"I'm glad to hear you say that."Momonga said. Tigris Euphrates nodded in silent agreement.

"But it's getting late, and I'm afraid it's about time for me to…."

A tentacle emerged from the slime and moved in the air, touching something invisible, operating his console.

"Ah, you're right, it has gotten quite late." Momonga tried to restrain the trepidation he felt. He wanted his friend to stay, at least for a little while longer. There was less than an hour left to go before the server shut down. He personally intended to stay on until he was forcefully logged out, and was immensely grateful that two of his comrades intended to stay with him. Now he desperately wracked his brains to find a way to make it three.

Alas, he couldn't come up with anything. To Momonga's mind, saying anything more would make him seem like a nuisance.

Thankfully, he didn't have to say anything.

"Hang on there a moment, Herohero-san."

The ooze stopped moving as he looked over to the hulking form of Tigris Euphrates.

Herohero was pierced by those inhuman eyes as his comrade continued "Just a little while ago you were all thankful towards us for keeping the Great Tomb of Nazarick up and running. By rights, you should pay your respects to Luci Fer-san too before you go shouldn't you? This is probably the last time we'll meet for a very long time, perhaps ever as much as I don't like to say it. He'll be here before long, you can spare a few minutes can't you?"

Momonga once again felt gratitude deep in his heart. His friend Tigris Euphrates had deciphered his desires without any kind of communication between the two of them, and employed a snare of words to keep their friend here until the end. There was a little more than half an hour left until the server shut down. If Herohero could be convinced to wait until Luci Fer made his way to the round table room, which admittedly wouldn't take much longer, he could probably be convinced to stay the rest of the time under the reasoning that it would only be a few more minutes. Using Herohero's words of gratitude against him, to make him feel like he was obligated to stay, Tigris Euphrates had certainly learned that from the very man they were now waiting for.

Herohero seemed to bunch up under that stare. "Well… I suppose, since this is the last day and all, I guess I can wait a little while longer. It would be nice to see all of my old comrades again before I go. The ones that I can see anyway…." Momonga was once again happy that his in-game avatar didn't show facial expressions, he wouldn't want Herohero to think he was enjoying this. Keeping him up so late just for his own selfish reasons, he felt a little ashamed but reasoned it away quickly enough. He wished he could show Tigris Euphrates his gratitude without Herohero figuring it out though.

Tigris' attention was all on the ooze however. "Honestly Herohero-san, from what you've told me of what you're going through I think that Luci Fer-san has the right idea. If it's really that bad you should quit before you do any permanent damage to yourself. Assuming it hasn't done that kind of damage already."

The lump of ooze seemed to shrink. "Y-you think so too, Tigris Euphrates-sama?"

The massive red man nodded. "Yes I do. I can see what it has done to you already. They have you so broken to the yoke that you're thinking of them first and foremost even now, and are prepared to leave your friends with little more than a litany of real world complaints and a quick goodbye, not thinking of how this is the last day of the game we all love so much. So lifeless, so empty. What happened to the Herohero-san I used to know? The terror of our enemies and anyone else that we thought deserved it? Where's the guy who would storm a guild of level seventy players alone and surprise everyone with the boatloads of treasure that they had collected and a new Guild Weapon for the trophy room in the treasury? What happened to all that energy?"

Herohero's response was a deep sigh, full of melancholy and not much else.

Before the high tier slime could muster up an answer, the door opened and a figure walked in. Well, sort of.

In basic proportions he wasn't a very imposing figure. Perhaps five feet tall, with pale blonde hair that fell to his shoulders, bright blue eyes, and a faint smile frozen upon his lips. The figure's marble white skin seemed to glow faintly, filling the air around him with quiet strength. He wore a garment that was reminiscent of a roman toga, white cloth with faint golden embroidery suggesting swirling, unknown characters. It went over one shoulder, leaving much of his chest bare, and descended to his knees. Each finger was adorned with a ring, each heavy with different gemstones, and delicate golden bracelets hung upon his wrists. A pair of anklets in the same style, but made of some dark, dark green material were the only thing he wore on his legs, his feet were bare. Around his neck on a thin golden chain hung a heavy amulet, a thick golden oval adorned with numerous patterns and nine different colored gemstones, eight around the circumference and the ninth in the center.

Only four things made one realize that this was no child. The first was the aforementioned faint glow that surrounded him, the second was the fact that his feet did not touch the floor but rather floated a few inches above it. The third would be the twelve shining white wings the sprouted from his back. Smaller pairs of wings spread from the top of his back to either side of his head and shoulders, and more pairs of smaller wings curved downward around his feet and legs from around the base of his spine, while the four pairs of larger wings sprouted from the middle of his back and protruded out to either side of him. The last thing that wasn't quite right was the horns. Two thick, ridged, white horns curled up from his temples up into the air and away from his body.

Here was the fourth member of Ainz Ooal Gown present upon the last day of service, Luci Fer.

He sent a glance around the room before a smiling emoticon appeared above his head and a smooth, mellow voice slithered around the room. "Well now, it appears that one more has decided to join us in our last moments. A pleasure, Herohero."

The blob of ooze moved in what might have been a bow. "I-it is good to see you again, Luci Fer-sama. I heard you were walking all the way down here from the entrance?"

Luci Fer nodded. "Yes. It has been quite a long time since I've actually looked at all the things we built. The Floor Guardians, the Area Guardians, all the elaborate traps and the luxury locations here on the ninth floor. So much work and so much money, all of it about to be erased." He once again looked around the room, carefully taking in every detail. "This room is no different, I distinctly remember all the time it took for us to gather the materials to build all of this, the design work on the table, the manufacturing of the chairs, and of course the elephant in the room." He lifted one glowing hand and pointed at an item on the wall. "The item that we all worked so long and hard to create."

The item in question floated in a long rectangular recess in the wall opposite the door. Made of a golden material, it was based on Hermes' Caduceus, topped by a hemispherical design dominated by seven golden serpents. Each snake held a large spherical gem in its jaws, each a different color, and more gems decorated the body of the staff. It took the entire Guild years to build, each member doing their part in gathering materials and arguing ideas, finally resulting in this finished product. The Guild Weapon, the symbol of the Guild, the icon of the Guildmaster, the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.

Luci Fer walked around the table, or at least that's what it looked like. He walked as though the floor was several inches higher than it actually was. "I think it would be a crying shame to allow so much work to never be used. What do you say? I think Momonga should take up the Staff. It's not like any harm can come to it now."

Momonga was taken aback. Although he was the Guildmaster, he had never once even touched the Staff. The Guild Weapon was the symbol of the Guild, and in a both a metaphorical way and a very literal way the embodiment of the Guild. If the Guild Weapon was ever stolen or destroyed then the Guild would be dissolved. For that reason the Guild Weapons that the various Guilds created were always locked away behind the heaviest security, their potent abilities never seeing the light of day for risk of what could happen. They were normally only used as part of a Guild's last resort or brought out by the extremely foolish. "I would never think of taking up the Staff Luci Fer-sama. We always decided things by majority vote, so I wouldn't dare-"

Before Momonga could complete his sentence, a rumble came from the Arabian giant "I agree with Luci Fer-san's proposal. That makes two votes out of four. Herohero-san, what say you?"

The ooze looked this way and that, taken aback by the sudden turn of events. "Well, I don't think it's that big of a deal. Not now anyway. What could possibly happen to it now? And even if it did, would it even matter?"

Luci Fer nodded. "And that makes three out of four Momonga, motion passed. And I agree with Herohero's statement. The only risk at this point would be if somebody decided to challenge the Great Tomb of Nazarick right now and managed to make it all the way down here before the server shut down, which will be in… about twenty minutes. Honestly, if somebody managed it I think I would give them the Staff without a fight. They would certainly have earned it."

A deep rumble came from Tigris Euphrates, and a quiet chuckle from Herohero. Momonga didn't think it was so funny, but he understood the point. The skeleton stood. "Very well, since the majority of the Guild has decided that the time has come to wield the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown I shall not shy away from it. However, I don't think I could comfortably wear such meager equipment and handle the staff in good conscience. This outfit doesn't have enough swag!" Momonga thrust his arms up in the air as he roared out his declaration and his equipment changed to the very best he had available. Elaborate rings upon his fingers, a cloak that looked like a piece of solid midnight. Boots, gauntlets, circlet, amulet, every piece of equipment the Guildmaster donned was a Divine item, the very highest quality available. Momonga vaguely noted all the icons in his HUD that showed how his stats had gone through the roof as he reached out a hand and tentatively took the Staff in his grasp.

Although the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown was made with him in mind, this was the very first time he had actually equipped it. As such he was slightly taken aback by the red aura that the Guild Weapon emitted in his hands, looking profoundly sinister as the occasional human face appeared in the glow, apparently screaming in agony. "Sick details."

Luci Fer nodded. "Ah yes I forgot that it had these visual effects programmed into it. I think it was Whitebrim that did that particular feature, at the urging of Ulbert Alain Odle."

Momonga nodded, he honestly wasn't entirely sure if Luci Fer was right or not, but he wasn't going to let anyone know that if he could help it. He turned away from the wall and almost took a step back. Herohero and Tigris Euphrates had stood up without him noticing and were currently leaning forward to get a closer look at the staff.

Herohero seemed a little bit in awe, his voice filled with a different kind of melancholy to what it sported before. "We really did spend a whole lot of time on this thing didn't we? And now it's all about to go down the drain. It's not fair."

Luci Fer shrugged. "It was inevitable. YGGDRASIL did a number of things that put it ahead of all competition at the time of launch, but the business side of the game had a number of flaws. I've told you all time and again that this would happen eventually if that didn't change." He let out a brief sigh. "I always hate it when this happens, when I've been proven right no matter how much I wanted to be wrong."

Nobody bothered commenting on the statement. He DID say that YGGDRASIL would eventually go bankrupt as a company, a number of times, but nobody really wanted to believe it.

Herohero seemed to look down at himself. "Honestly, I'm feeling a little underdressed now." With Momonga's change of wardrobe, all three of his fellow guild members were clad in nothing but Divine equipment.

Tigris Euphrates just shrugged. "Do something about it Herohero-san, it's not like you don't have this kind of stuff too." Luci Fer nodded in agreement. "This is a funeral, of sorts, there's no reason not to look our best."

A few moments passed before Herohero's mass shifted into a different shape. The ooze swelled and elongated upwards as eight tendrils emerged from the sides to hang just above the floor, each one a bit thicker than a human arm. Heteromorphic players had a number of advantages, higher stats in general in addition to the abilities of monsters, but they had disadvantages as well. Suffering from the elemental weaknesses of the monsters that they played as would be one example. Another problem, at least for the extremely inhuman races like slimes, was that they didn't have the same kind of equipment set-up. A slime couldn't really wear a suit of armor, or bracers or greaves. There were some characters who took levels in shapeshifting classes that let them take on a humanoid shape, but others did what Herohero did now.

Instead of a slot for armor or bracers or something of a similar nature, they worked with the larger number of accessory slots they had instead and used them to maximize the traits that they already had available to them by playing a heteromorphic race. A number of jewels glimmered across Herohero's form, two on each of the eight tendrils and several more around the main 'body'. They were small portions of the rings, broaches, amulets, and other trinkets that Herohero had equipped that emerged from the surface of the slime. Most players could at most equip three or four pieces of equipment like this, but an ooze doesn't have things like fingers or a neck to hold him back.

Many of these seemingly insignificant pieces of jewelry had effects far beyond what most would guess, most of them being the highest Divine class equipment, with a small majority being merely Legendary class. They all shared a purpose though, greatly strengthening and improving Herohero's greatest weapon- his own body. With these items strengthening him, Herohero's unarmed attacks would be comparable to even the greatest of Divine weapons.

Tigris Euphrates chuckled. "That's more like it, there's the terror of the newbies that I knew so long ago." He reached a hand out and into a small dark portal that appeared as he accessed his item box and pulled out his own weapon.

A long, curved sword, a talwar with a black grip, a long spike extending out of the pommel and a shining golden hilt decorated with mesmerizing patterns emerged from the portal and was slid through the sash at Tigris Euphrates' waist. The blade couldn't be seen behind the gorgeously crafted scabbard of crimson leather and orichalcum gilt that sheathed the weapon but the entire thing gave off a faint silver glow. This wasn't the only weapon that Tigris Euphrates regularly used, but it was certainly his favorite.

Luci Fer in turn produced his own masterpiece. A shining golden trident appeared in his hand, almost as tall as he himself was. The body was engraved with small characters, only visible if seen in the right light, leading up to a giant black, perfectly spherical gemstone. From the gem emerged the three prongs, one straight up, the other two emerging at a forty five degree angle before turning to run parallel with the central shaft. Each of the three points was made of green crystal so dark that it was almost impossible to tell them from black. Despite the size of the weapon Luci Fer handled it with ease.

Momonga felt invigorated in a way that he hadn't felt in a long time. He flourished the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown to the door. "To the Throne Room! If the world is ending then we shall meet it properly!"

The three gave a cheer as they followed behind him out the door and Momonga could not easily describe the feeling it gave him. This was the largest gathering of the Guild that they've had in years, but it was only a little while before the end. He wasn't sure whether he was happy or sad, it was a strange mixture of both that he couldn't really put a name to.

As they walked down the marble corridor, they passed by one of the maids that kept the ninth floor in order. She immediately stepped to one side and bowed low. Momonga took in the incredibly detailed work on her uniform and thought of the Guild member who designed it, Whitebrim. He always said things like 'a maid's greatest weapon is her uniform'. Momonga couldn't help but wonder. "Herohero-sama, is this one of yours?"

The group stopped as Herohero took a closer look. "No, I don't think so. The outfit is Whitebrim-sama's work, but he designed all of the maid outfits. However, it certainly isn't one of mine. Let's move on. Thanks for all the hard work."

With Momonga leading, the group came to the stairs that led to the tenth and deepest floor of their Guild headquarters, and were immediately welcomed by a group of seven; six women and one man.

"Ah yes, the Pleiades, the last ditch defense to buy us some time. I almost forgot these were here." Once more the last members of the Guild stopped to admire what their compatriots had created in days gone by. Six gorgeous women, each in a different style of maid outfit, each with a different style of hair, body, and overall feeling. Herohero wasn't the only one who barely remembered them. Tigris Euphrates asked "That's the butler right, what was his name again?"

Momonga activated the stat window to check, since he himself could not remember, but before he could read the name that appeared the answer was given by another as Luci Fer spoke up. "His name is Sebas Tian, the one and only NPC created by our departed former Guildmaster."

As the other two let out brief 'ahs' of remembrance, Momonga couldn't help but comment "I forgot that Touch Me-sama created this guy to look just like him. Still, as nice as it is to see all of this again, we've got to hurry if we want to get to the Throne Room before the end. All of you, Follow!"

With that spoken command, the seven NPCs left their post for the first time since their creation. The four continued on with their new entourage in tow.

The tenth floor wasn't very large, and while it had other facilities available they were ignored by the four as they made their way towards the heart of the tenth floor and the heart of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Before long they came to the final room before the actual Throne Room, the area that was named the Lemegeton.

Momonga took in the opulent room. Seventy two alcoves were placed in the circular walls of the room, with sixty seven filled by high quality golems made of priceless materials, and a grand chandelier decorated with numerous crystals dominated the ceiling. Anyone who ignored the luxurious fixture was in for a surprise. It was in fact a monster capable of using extremely powerful spells of almost every element. Between the chandelier monster and the golems, there was enough firepower in this room to slaughter several parties of level one hundred characters.

Tigris Euphrates sighed. "I forgot that this was left unfinished. Nubo-san's laziness is remarkable, giving up on the project when he was so close to being done." Nubo was the main golem maker of the Guild, and it was his idea to make the Lemegeton golems as Nazarick's last line of defense. Seventy two golems modeled after the seventy two demons of the Ars Goetia, all made of the highest quality materials and craftsmanship. Sadly, he got tired of the project and quit after making sixty seven.

They crossed the Lemegeton safely and approached the door to the Throne Room itself. At this door, a massive piece of gorgeous artwork depicting a goddess on one door and numerous demons on the other, Momonga hesitated. It had been a long time since he had come this way, he wasn't overly familiar with exactly how the security systems of this room worked, and he remembered the person who had created this door. Momonga looked back at the man in question and asked "Luci Fer-sama, you didn't do anything weird with this door did you? No nasty trap that makes all the golems attack the first person who opens it, nothing like that?"

The shining, floating figure put a hand to his chest and an emoticon appeared above his head to indicate shock. "How could you believe that I would do something so pointlessly cruel Momonga? Do you not trust me?"

"Not really, after that golem incident. You know exactly what I'm talking about. And you seriously didn't place some last moment trap?"

Luci Fer's only reply was to sigh. "That was an accident, I keep telling you. I haven't got a single level in any kind of crafting class, when someone like me makes something like a golem, there's a serious chance that things will not go as planned no matter how much I try." Then Luci Fer raised his head and his contrite tone vanished. "Besides, if I was going to perform some last act of malice I would have done it by now. I thought of things like PK'ing you guys down to level one, or going to the round table room, renouncing my Guild membership and stealing the Staff to destroy the Guild in our last moments, but I've decided that such actions would be in bad taste. You need not fear any kind of cruel, last minute treachery on my part. The door is perfectly safe to open."

The other two remained resolutely silent throughout this exchange, even though Momonga looked to them for aid. He wanted to say something about how the fact that Luci Fer admitted to having thoughts like that undermined the sincerity of his words, but they honestly didn't have the time to argue. Momonga turned around and pushed the door open to enter the very heart of Nazarick.

The Throne Room was a massive chamber of dark blue crystal walls stretching up to a ceiling that could not be seen in the darkness overhead. A long stretch of corridor led from the door to the main audience chamber, numerous flags hanging down from either side. Each one bore a sigil belonging to one of the forty one members of Ainz Ooal Gown. The four, followed by the seven NPCs, set a quick pace down the red carpet to the Throne itself, a luxurious affair of the same dark blue crystal, set upon a massive dais, and attended by a lone figure in white.

She was a relatively tall woman, with golden irises and long black hair, wearing a white dress that left her shoulders and the top of her chest bare save for a golden necklace like a spider web. At her temples two horns sprouted, but unlike Luci Fer's they were smooth and curled around to the front of her head rather than up. The horns and the pair of jet black feathered wings extending from her lower back and reaching around to her front made it clear that she, like everything else in Nazarick, was not human.

And in her pure white hands she held a large black wand, with an equally dark sphere hovering perhaps an inch away from the end. "AAAGH!"

The other three darted away, looking at the source of the sound. Tigris Euphrates.

An emoticon denoting anger appeared above the red giant's head as he beheld the wand and the one that held it. The giant rumbled "I'm an easy going person, but there are things that I will not tolerate. Tabula Smaragdina, you have gone too far!" He moved to the figure in white, the Overseer of the Floor Guardians, Albedo, and held out his hand. "Surrender the Ginnungagap." When the figure did nothing, he growled as he thought out exactly the order he had to give. "Surrender primary weapon."

Upon hearing the words, Albedo obediently handed the black wand to Tigris Euphrates before standing at attention once more.

Herohero was the first to ask. "What was that all about, Tigris Euphrates-sama?!"

Tigris Euphrates stuck the wand through his belt before turning to answer. "Is it not obvious, Herohero-san? We all agreed that the World Items we collected were to be used as the majority agreed upon. I certainly don't remember ever attending a vote to give the Ginnungagap to Albedo, which means that Tabula Smaragdina did it on his own. Normally I wouldn't really care, but I can't abide THIS one being just given away like that. I was the one who got it after all."

It took a moment of recollection before Momonga remembered that his friend was right. It was Tigris Euphrates who had obtained the Ginnungagap from Trinity several years ago. That had been a lucky break, and a major victory against one of their rivals. In different times, Momonga would have done something about this, demanding that they return the item to the Treasury, but at this point it didn't really matter. If Tigris Euphrates wanted to hold his greatest triumph in the last few moments, he could do so. Looking around, he figured that Herohero and Luci Fer felt the same. At the same time though….

"I can't remember; what kind of settings did she have?" With the question uttered, Momonga stepped forward and accessed the Overseer's programming. And was then immediately shocked at the massive amount of text that was revealed.

The other three crowded in behind him. "I'm not surprised, Tabula Smaragdina was rather… stringent with his settings. I don't think we have time to review all of this in the time we have left."

Momonga silently agreed, there was way too much to thoroughly go over, he quickly scrolled down to the end where a sudden line made him stop in his tracks.

'She's also a complete nymphomaniac.'

All four were completely silent upon seeing that line. Then everyone started laughing. Momonga's cringing chuckle, Herohero's quiet tittering, Tigris Euphrates' booming guffaws, Luci Fer's mocking snickers. Then Momonga got an idea.

He raised his arms, theatrically, hamming it up. "My fellow members of Ainz Ooal Gown, I believe that as Guildmaster, I cannot let our friend Tabula Smaragdina-sama continue to suffer this embarrassment." He then used the Staff to activate his privilege as the Guildmaster for the first time, allowing him to unilaterally edit any NPC's information. He quickly erased the line that had everyone in stitches and replaced it.

'She's also completely in love with Momonga.'

Upon reading the new line, the laughter started anew. Momonga spread his arms to his sides, basking in the revelry as he announced "As his Guildmaster, I shall bear the shame and embarrassment instead, laugh at me if you must. Tabula Smaragdina-sama, if you object to this treatment, feel free to say so!" He then held a hand to his ear as if waiting for a reply. None came, of course, but it amused his friends anyway.

Normally Momonga wouldn't do things like this, but it was the last day, and on top of that there was a sort of atmosphere between the four of them. A line had been drawn, between those that were here and those that were not. Somehow their thirty seven absent friends were becoming the butt of the jokes and a source of amusement. Normally this sort of thing should be discouraged, but as Momonga looked at this three laughing friends, he decided not to do anything. No real harm was being done, right? It wasn't like they were here to be made fun of. Momonga figured that it was okay as he strode forward and took his place in the throne, a smile on his face even though no one could see it.

After a few moments the laughter died down. Luci Fer was the first to regain himself. Of course. While Herohero and Tigris Euphrates were still laughing at Momonga's antics, the shining figure floated over to the throne beside Momonga and asked "Momonga, while you are on the throne you can access the settings for pretty much anything in Nazarick, right?"

Momonga felt leery about where this was going, but nodded the affirmative. "Yes."

Luci Fer nodded in turn as their two friends finally regained themselves and joined them on the dais. "Ah, wait one second." He turned to the eight NPC's in the room and barked out "Kneel!"

Upon receiving the order, the six maids, the head butler, and the Overseer all fell to one knee. Luci Fer nodded "Better." Then turned back to Momonga "Could you do me a favor and bring up Shalltear's settings please?"

Momonga wasn't sure what Luci Fer wanted to do, but rationalized that it didn't really matter. Luci Fer could undoubtedly be one of the most spiteful members of the Guild, but they had less than five minutes left. He couldn't possibly do any harm in that amount of time, right? A little bit curious himself as to what would turn up, Momonga once again used his Guildmaster privileges to access the character settings of Shalltear Bloodfallen, and was floored by what he discovered.

Herohero and Tigris Euphrates crowded up to the other side of the throne from Luci Fer to look at the window and while neither of them said anything, they did make a sound. Momonga figured they were probably gagging, or close to it. Shalltear's settings were nothing short of filthy.

"Let's see, necrophilia, a foot fetish, bisexual, wow, Peroroncino set no small number of kinks into her. I'm almost impressed in a weird way, but for that to be true I'd have to be surprised. Anyway, scroll down to the bottom."

Stunned by the sheer unapologetically perverted settings for one of the most powerful NPC's, Momonga did so without complaint.

"Now, type this in. 'Has fallen completely in love with Luci Fer'."

"What? Why?"

The winged figure shrugged. "I figure if we're all giving ourselves girlfriends out of the NPC's at the last moment then I should grab the kinky one. Now do it."

There were things that Momonga could have said to this, but the mood was festive and he didn't want to ruin it so he silently complied with the request. The moment that he saved the doctored settings he heard what sounded like a camera shutter before he closed the window. He looked over to his right. "What was that? Did you just take a screenshot of Shalltear's settings window?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

A smiling emoticon appeared above Luci Fer's head. "I'm going to send it to Peroroncino in the morning. He made Shalltear to be his ideal lady friend, giving her a ridiculous number of outfits and pretty much copy-pasting a book of sexual fetishes into her personal settings. Now I've taken it from him, and I'll be sending him proof that even if he creates the girl in question she'd still rather have me than him. He has nobody but himself to blame for not showing up today."

Before Momonga could say anything else Luci Fer looked to Herohero and Tigris Euphrates, who at this point had started laughing again. "While we're at it, either one of you feel up to taking Aura? Or maybe one of the others? There's not exactly of a shortage of women in Nazarick if you look around."

Herohero and Tigris Euphrates, both still fighting off the effects of their laughter, politely declined. "No thank you, Luci Fer-san, hehehe, but I thank you for the kind offer. Sadly, there's not much time left for those kinds of antics."

Everyone looked up at the clock, on the top right of every HUD. They all read the same. 23:58:55

The fact that they had only a minute left before the server shut down, less than a minute now, was sobering.

Herohero and Tigris Euphrates regained their seriousness and stood up straight on the left side of the throne, facing the kneeling NPCs. "So…" Herohero timidly started. "This is it, then. Goodbye everyone, I hope we can all meet again in YGGDRASIL 2."

Tigris Euphrates shrugged. "That would be nice but I'm not sure if it will actually happen. I haven't heard anything about any company picking up the rights for a sequel."

Momonga sighed "We can only hope that such a thing happens. Until then, I can honestly say that these years with all of you and all of our absent friends were some of the happiest years of my life. Thank you all."

Luci Fer said nothing, until the clock said 23:59:50. "Good bye everyone. I'd say it was nice knowing you all but we all know it would be a horrific lie."

23:59:59

Tigris Euphrates retorted almost immediately, deadpan. "Good bye you lazy, big nosed, rubber faced bastard."

Luci Fer turned to the red giant "What?"

Momonga noted the time. 00:00:03. "What?"

Albedo raised her head. "What is it Momonga-sama? Luci Fer-sama? Tigris Euphrates-sama? Is there something wrong?"

Everyone in the room turned.

And spoke in unison.

"What?"

XXXXXXXXX

And that's the first chapter ladies and gentlemen. I hope you all enjoyed it so far.

With that said, a more personal note. Yes I'm back. I'd say sorry it took me so long, but I can't exactly say that honestly considering that I have no regrets. Things happened, events unfolded, and my muse for writing decided to pull a vanishing act. But I'm still alive.

The next chapter might take a while. I'm going to be going slow deliberately until Overlord Volume Nine is completely finished. I like to get as much information about a series as I can before I start writing, you never know what little tidbits might change something or give ideas, and to be frank the more details I can get on the world of Overlord the better. It's been made clear that it's a big world and so far we've only ever seen a relatively small portion of it. I'll want as much as I can before I seriously get started, because Volume Nine is probably the last that we're going to get for a very long time.

Next up on the agenda, a small little section about some Overlord lore. I'm well aware that there are people reading this that have only watched the anime and haven't gotten the same sort of detail that readers of the Light Novels enjoy, in addition to people who haven't even heard of Overlord before now. So I'm going to be posting bits of information that don't really come up in the anime so that I don't have to find a way to fit it into the narrative.

ITEMS

YGGDRASIL has an extremely open-ended crafting system, nearly anything is customizable. Furthermore, numerous items can be converted into data crystals and then inserted into other pieces of equipment to give that item special effects. A variety of factors, such as the levels of the person crafting the item, the materials the item is constructed from, and other factors all dictate how much data a given item can take in. With that said, items get broken down into a number of ranks. From lowest quality to highest quality they go Lesser, Low, Minor, Medium, Major, Greater, High, Highest, Legacy, Relic, Legendary, and Divine.

One should note that Divine items- weapons, armor, accessories, etc, are quite rare. It's not at all uncommon for a level one hundred player to not have even a single Divine item. So the fact that the four members of Ainz Ooal Gown featured here are covered with the things from head to toe says something about them.

Given all the open ended customization, a literally infinite different number of items can be created, limited only by the imagination. YGGDRASIL's crafting system allowed a player to create items that were tailored specifically for themselves and as such every piece of equipment can be considered unique.

Guild Weapons, such as the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown are a bit of a special case. They are one of the few exceptions that go higher than Divine class. Seeing as how multiple Divine items went into its creation, the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown and other Guild Weapons are generally considered to be in a class of their own.

In addition to that there are the Artifact class items. The name is basically a miscellaneous catch all. An Artifact items means that it cannot be altered, so there are strong Artifacts and weak Artifacts.

There are other exceptions to this little system, but I'll bring those up when they become relevant.

I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, feel free to leave a review to tell me what you thought about the chapter and what you think of the story so far. I'll see you all again in the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

Small note, it has come to my attention that some characters didn't appear in the last chapter, namely the 'greater than symbol' and the 'less than symbol'. So some things didn't come out as they originally should have, but that's fixed now.

A second note, normally I don't do this but enough people brought up the same issue, and enough of them were guests and therefore could not be replied to, that I feel the need to address it here. Several people were complaining about the honorifics used by Momonga and Herohero, and how they kept referring to everyone as –sama. I just copied what they did in the light novel at that point in time. For some reason Momonga and Herohero referred to each other as –sama during their last conversation at the beginning of volume one. My guess is that they were clowning around and that this was perhaps a semi-regular thing among Ainz Ooal Gown members. I would like to point out to everyone to try and keep in mind whether it is an author screwing up or a character deliberately using the language improperly.

Regardless, don't expect that particular bit of language to last. With all of that said, on with the show.

XXXXXXXXX

Chapter Two

XXXXXXXXX

The remaining members of Ainz Ooal Gown looked on, stunned, as Albedo repeated her question. "Is there anything wrong Masters? If there is anything that I can do, please give the order."

Momonga dumbly stood up, entranced by the bizarre situation. Albedo knelt on one knee before the dais, her head raised and carefully inspecting the four figures before her. He was unsure what to think, what to say, how to react to this situation.

Before he could say or do anything however, one of his allies overcame their stupor.

Lucifer stepped forward, standing next to Momonga. "No, there is nothing wrong Albedo."

Seeing their friend stepping forward and taking action started to break the spell that had engulfed them all until that moment. Before anyone could do anything, Lucifer continued. "Albedo, Sebastian, Pleiades!"

The eight NPCs, were they NPCs now, roared back "Yes, Lucifer-sama!"

"The four of us need to have a private conversation, leave the room and ensure that no eavesdropping takes place, now!"

"Immediately my lord!" The eight of them immediately stood up, turned, and made their way out of the room.

The four of them watched on in silence as they made their way down the red carpet and out the door.

When the massive doors closed behind them, Tigris Euphrates finally regained himself. "W-what the hell is going on? That was Albedo, those were the NPCs right? They were actually _talking_. More than that, their lips moved too, when they talked. And your lips moved too!" He swung a hand to point at their floating ally. "What the hell is going on!?"

Lucifer sighed "Good question and I wish I had an answer for you. I saw one of the NPCs actually talking of all things, figured something weird was going on, and acted. The most important thing was to get them out of the way while we figure this out. Just from that we know a few things. It's not just Albedo, the butler and the maids acted the same way, they all spoke, and they all obeyed instructions other than the ones on the basic little list of recognized commands. Furthermore, so far they seem to be obedient to us despite these changes. Although that might not mean anything."

Momonga finally came to his senses and started paying attention to the world around him. "The HUD is gone, I can't see anything. Also…." He quickly tried to use a number of game functions, accessing the chat, logging out, calling the game master, none of it worked. "None of the game functions seem to be working."

"Could, could this be YGGDRASIL 2?" Lucifer and Momonga both looked over to Tigris Euphrates. "Could they have activated the new game immediately after ending the old one?"

"Don't be absurd." Lucifer's indictment was swift and cold. "Things like that don't happen without any prior warning, and furthermore the game company was in no condition to be managing something like that. I'm more worried about being hacked and having our minds held captive somehow."

Momonga accepted the logic without question. As nice as it would be if it was true and YGGDRASIL 2 was launched, Lucifer's comments made sense. Furthermore, another sensation finally registered. "Do any of you smell that?" It was a husky, exotic, spicy sort of smell. Something not easily placed but reminded one of heat, the wind, and the unknown. Momonga looked to his left, at Tigris Euphrates.

"This makes no sense. By the laws behind dive technology, the sense of smell and the sense of taste cannot be replicated. Hell, I don't think they've even figured out HOW to accurately replicate the complicated nuances behind taste and smell. This makes no sense."

Momonga ignored Lucifer's continued muttering as he gave voice to a queer idea that had been building in the back of his mind. "Could… could the game have become real?"

Tigris Euphrates and Lucifer both looked at him. "I thought the sequel comment was absurd, but this is ridiculous. Momonga, come to your senses and help us figure this out. The idea that this is reality is just crazy." Tigris Euphrates was quick to agree. "Momonga-san, this isn't the time for idle fantasies, we're in serious trouble here."

Lucifer's head popped up. "Actually, hang on. Tigris, give me your hand."

The red man, looking thoroughly confused, presented his right hand palm up as Lucifer swooped through the air to grab it with both hands, his golden trident floating beside him. Momonga looked on as Lucifer felt something for one moment, two, and then his arms dropped to his sides as he looked at Tigris' hand in shock. "That can't be…."

"What, what is it Lucifer-san?"

Lucifer was still dumbfounded as he answered "You've got a pulse."

Before Momonga and Tigris Euphrates could comprehend the meaning of that statement, their friend brought one hand over to the opposite arm and pinched, hard, letting out a small hiss. "Okay, I can feel pain." Then he did something even more strange, jerking up the hem of his toga and looking down beneath the garment. "Holy shit."

He looked up at the two of them and stated, with an expression of utmost shock "I'm equipped."

It was too much, things were happening too quickly, Momonga couldn't make heads of tails of it, and the look on his friend's face was too much, he started to laugh, Tigris Euphrates started to crack up too.

Lucifer's features darkened with anger. "Listen to me you nimrods!" He spoke quickly, his voice low, smooth, and carrying arctic cold. "Think about it, when the hell did YGGDRASIL ever let that kind of detail slip? You both know as well as I do that any kind of sexual material, in ANY capacity, is completely prohibited by the programming for fear of violating public decency laws. I sure as hell didn't design genitalia when I created my character, and I'm sure you didn't either. No character could ever strip themselves naked, and if you happened to look down your pants all you ever saw was darkness. What the fuck is happening!?"

Momonga calmed down in the face of Lucifer's anger, and his blood ran cold when his comments about public decency laws struck home. Lucifer was right, that kind of detail would never be allowed in the game. Even if armor got damaged or destroyed characters always had enough scraps left in just the right places to protect their decency even if it didn't count toward their defenses anymore. If that kind of thing got added in then they could say for certain that they were not involved in anything publically sanctioned.

His heart started pounding again, which made no sense but that was how he felt, the likelihood of them being victims of something nefarious kept growing. And a voice in the back of his mind whispered that the odds of the impossible coming true were higher too. But how to verify it?

"What's the situation outside like?"

Lucifer and Tigris Euphrates both looked sharply at Momonga's comment. "That's… actually a good question."

Tigris Euphrates nodded "I'll take care of it, wait here." Then he more or less blurred down the hall, opened the door, and slipped outside.

Momonga turned to Lucifer, who was currently looking behind one shoulder, his face filled with surprise and confusion as his wings twitched behind him. "What is it Lucifer-san? Are you alright?"

Lucifer glanced back at him. "I am currently feeling muscles in my back move whenever I move one of my wings. Muscles that I can guarantee do not exist in a human body. I… cannot easily describe just how strange that feels. I'm currently getting more sensation than I ever have before, which suggests that the usual limitations on the sense of touch have been released somehow. How about you? You were panicking a few seconds ago, and you don't even have the sorts of things you'd need to actually talk. No larynx, no lungs, no tongue, no lips, nothing. You're telling me you feel just fine?"

Momonga raised one hand to his face, his hand was all bones, no flesh, no skin, and no sinew, although to his touch it felt like he had a layer of skin. Looking at his hand made it clear that that was not the case however, regardless of what his senses reported. But strangely enough he felt none of the panic or fear that he was gripped by not so long ago. It was strange, but somehow he didn't feel like it was strange and he told his comrade so.

Before Lucifer could respond, the door opened again and Tigris Euphrates zipped back up to the dais. "Okay, Sebas and the Pleiades are going to scout the outside and report back. I told them to keep relatively close, but are they even going to be able to leave? NPCs created to guard an area aren't supposed to be able to leave that area."

Lucifer shrugged "All kinds of rules are being broken tonight Tigris, we'll find out soon enough whether that's another one. And I think that will be the final test as well. If there's nothing waiting outside but the swamps of Helheim then who knows what kind of trouble we're in. If there's something else out there, then…."

He looked Momonga dead in the eye. "If you eliminate the impossible then whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."

It took a moment before the meaning of that statement hit home. Lucifer was actually saying that the idea of the game becoming real might have some merit. That invoked a strange feeling in Momonga, fear, but also an unusual excitement.

Tigris Euphrates looked over to their fourth comrade. "Herohero-san, you've been pretty quiet. Don't you have anything to add?"

They looked over to Herohero, he had slipped out of his fighting stance and was simply slumped beside the throne in a thick puddle of pitch black sludge. Herohero gave no answer.

Momonga began to feel concerned and stepped closer to investigate, the other two right behind him. "Herohero-san?"

Still no answer.

The undead Overlord started to feel panic rise up inside of him. Herohero couldn't be dead, right? Could it be that whatever weird process had happened didn't work with an extremely inhuman body? Was Herohero not caught up in it, did he log out normally? Or was his mind fried because whatever happened didn't work properly?

Before anyone could take any further action, the sludge twitched. Several bubbles emerged from the surface of the ooze, popping loudly and scattering bits of slime with a bizarre sound.

The three stepped back, uncertain of what to make of it when it happened again, the slime scattering farther and the sound louder, but somewhat different.

"Oh, I think I get it."

Momonga and Tigris Euphrates looked over to Lucifer. "What do you mean?"

Lucifer rose up in the air and came down right next to the toxic puddle. "Think about it, we've all apparently taken on the forms of our YGGDRASIL characters right? If that's true, then right now Herohero is an Ooze." Lucifer looked over at the two of them. "Herohero is used to working a human body, as we all are, but his new body is a quite a bit different from the human norm whereas ours…" He gestured to himself and the two of them with one hand "… are not." He peered down at the bubbling goop beneath him and said "If I remember the common Ooze Traits correctly, they can hear and smell just fine, better than fine actually, but many of them are blind. Moreover they don't really have eyes or mouths. Right now, I think, Herohero can hear us, but he cannot see us, and I think these bubbles and these weird sounds…." He paused as another strange noise burst forth from the ooze with another small eruption of slime "… I think that all of this is Herohero trying to talk to us."

Another eruption of sound and slime, larger than ever, punctuated Lucifer's words. The dark ooze splattered all over the floor, driving Momonga and Tigris Euphrates back. Lucifer stood, well hovered, unmoved.

"Okay Herohero, if you can hear me, _stop that_. I have no problem with acid but if you hit Momonga or Tigris Euphrates with that stuff you could hurt them. To say nothing of what you're doing to the floor." He spared a glance at the numerous droplets of ooze that had fallen to the floor. They were starting to smoke.

The three waited, expectantly, and after a few moments the bubbling, the eruptions, and the noises ceased.

Lucifer nodded. "Well, that's one thing settled. He can hear us. Now how do we actually establish communications?"

Momonga tried to come up with something, but he found it difficult. The closest thing he could come up with was the sign language used by the deaf and the mute, but he didn't know how to use it, nor did he expect Herohero to be able to use it either. Before he could come up with any other ideas however, Lucifer shrugged and said. "I suppose we'll have to try the big experiment now."

Both Momonga and Tigris Euphrates perked up at that. "Big experiment?" "You'll have to explain what you mean by that, Lucifer-san."

The floating figure looked over at the two and said one word. "Magic"

Momonga looked down at the puddle of ooze, currently twitching spasmodically. "You think something like 'Telepathy' or a 'Telepathic Bond' spell will let him communicate with us Lucifer-san?"

Tigris Euphrates shrugged. "It can't hurt to try. Actually, I think I have…." He stopped in mid motion. "Here's another experiment actually, can we open our item boxes? Let's see, maybe this will work…." He closed his eyes and reached a hand forward. Both Lucifer and Momonga watched carefully as his hand sunk into a dark circle that appeared in the air. Tigris' eyes popped open. "Well whatta ya know! That did work! Now, let's see." He seemed to grasp around for a moment or two before he emerged with a necklace made of many interwoven strands of different colored metals. "Here, this should work. I hope."

Lucifer immediately asked "How exactly did you do that?" Momonga nodded in silent agreement, equally curious.

The red giant shrugged. "All you have to do is imagine a box opening when you reach out your hand. That's how I did it anyway."

As Lucifer and Momonga experimented with the mechanics of this, Tigris Euphrates tossed the necklace into the twitching pile of sludge on the ground. "Here, Herohero-san. Try using this, if you can."

All three of them carefully watched as the ooze stopped moving. Then, without warning, sound blasted into their minds "HEY! CAN YOU GUYS HEAR ME!?"

They clapped their hands over their ears as the voice continued to blare into their heads "THIS FEELS REALLY WEIRD! LIKE, NOTHING WORKS OR MOVES THE WAY IT'S SUPPOSED TO! WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!?"

"Herohero! I understand that you are scared but quiet down! We hear you just fine so please, for goodness' sake…."

It was a few moments before the voice returned, at much reduced volume "How's this?"

Everyone sighed in relief. "Better. Now, you should have been listening to everything so far. How much did you hear?"

They continued to hear the voice in their heads "Yeah, I could hear you. You guys mentioned something about the NPC's talking and sending some of them outside right? How the heck is that supposed to work? More importantly, I can't see you guys! And nothing moves the way it should! Am I a slime now?! What the hell am I supposed to do!?" As Herohero's voice grew more panicked, the pile of sludge started twitching again, this way and that.

Momonga stepped closer, trying to think of some way to help his friend. "Calm down, Herohero-san, panicking won't help-"

"WON'T HELP!? You try being calm when YOU can't see or move or anything!" The sludge's twitching became more energetic.

The skeleton tried to think of the best advice he could give. He couldn't come up with much, but something was better than nothing. "Herohero-san, you're currently a pile of ooze, I don't think trying to move individual limbs will work. Maybe if you tried moving everything at once you'd get somewhere?"

He honestly had no idea how to help his friend, and that tormented him, but Herohero's twitching settled down again.

Then, before anyone could react, the entire mass leapt off the ground and passed between the three of them before splattering on the red carpet running between the dais and the door.

Lucifer moved down beside his fellow guild members and observed the currently pulsing slime. "Well, that's something. Try that again Herohero, but more controlled, try to position yourself upright. Then try to grow eyes."

Momonga and Tigris Euphrates looked over at him. "This is no time for jokes Lucifer-san, how do you expect him to just 'grow eyes'?" Momonga nodded in agreement.

The hovering figure just shrugged. "If I remember right, doesn't he have a few levels of the Shoggoth racial class? Those things have eyes and mouths. That was how he gained sight in the first place back in YGGDRASIL. He just has to find a way to make that work here." He continued to fix his gaze on the pile of twitching slime. "That's the way Herohero, nice and steady, you'll be ambulatory in no time. Just don't splatter yourself across the ceiling with another heroic leap."

"This is not NEARLY as easy as I make it look. Oh, bones, I miss you already. Standing is not easy without you."

With that sad, strained voice in their heads, they watched as Herohero managed to successfully attain something resembling his previous form. He was upright, although there was no indication of any eyes or other facial features.

Lucifer nodded. "Okay, now grow eyes and we're fine."

"WE ARE NOT FINE!" Everyone clapped their hands to their ears once more. "How the hell am I supposed to just 'grow eyes'!?"

The hovering figure shrugged. "It's your body; you'll understand it better than I would. My best guess would be trying to imagine eyes forming on your surface? Play around with things, figure it out."

Herohero's response was not in understandable words but more like a series of unintelligible grumbles as the material of the top most portion of his body swirled and moved around. The three of them watched and waited in silence.

Finally, after several minutes, two pits formed on his surface facing towards them. The three heard a massive sigh of relief in their heads. "Thank God." Herohero's voice was the epitome or relief.

Then the entire structure collapsed onto the floor once more. "DAMN IT!"

A faint snigger could be heard and the two looked over to Lucifer's grinning face. Momonga was quick to reprimand "This isn't funny Lucifer-san; Herohero-san's having a hard time with this."

Lucifer, however, was unabashed. "I know he is, and it's funny. He finally gets things together and then loses concentration? He just flops there? His reaction afterwards? I'm not sorry, that's funny."

Herohero made no verbal response. Instead a blob of slime launched from the formless mass straight toward Lucifer at high speeds.

Tigris Euphrates and Momonga flinched back and away from the pitch black missile as it sped toward Lucifer… and hit an invisible wall a foot from his face. Or at least that's what it looked like.

Lucifer's face was stoic as he watched the slime fall to the floor without even touching him. "That was uncalled for Herohero, utterly childish. Although I suppose it's good to know that my Protective Aura still works. Anyway quit clowning around and pull yourself together. Then you can get to work on figuring out speech."

He looked over at Momonga and Tigris Euphrates. "We still have to test out whether magic works or not. We know, thanks to Tigris' necklace, that magic items seem to work, but we don't know for sure about the actual spells."

Momonga knew that the idea had merit, and that finding out whether or not their normal magic worked was of the highest priority given the questionable loyalty of all the NPCs, but at the same time…. "Lucifer-san, I don't think we should be practicing magic in here, you never know what might get damaged." The last thing Momonga wanted was a high output DPS like Lucifer flinging around fireballs and lightning bolts.

Said high output DPS was currently staring him down. "Relax Momonga, there's plenty more to magic than attack spells. We're not all super specialized like you, there's plenty of magic that we can use that won't damage anything. For example… [Arcane Eye]."

Lucifer clinched and closed one eye as the magic took hold. The Arcane Eye spell created an invisible sensor that acted as a floating eye that one could move around. The downside compared to scrying was that it had a limited range and it only faced one way, one could easily sneak behind it if you spotted it through its invisibility somehow. On the other hand, one could channel other spells through it to improve its scouting capabilities, spells that would allow one to see through invisibility or illusions for example. Scrying didn't let you do that.

In the game, the result was kind of like looking through a remote control camera, with a picture-in-picture kind of effect compared to normal vision. Here, with the HUD apparently disabled, Momonga figured that the data feed was considerably different.

Before anyone could ask anything, a loud CRACK could be heard and several things happened at once.

From a point approximately fifteen feet above the door to the throne room, a small web of cracks appeared in thin air before quickly vanishing.

The second thing that happened was that three columns of fire emerged from that same point and lanced toward the four of them. The third thing and fourth thing that happened was the three huge bubbles of clear fluid and the three lightning bolts as thick as a man's waist that followed right behind.

Momonga yelped and leapt backward, raising the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown into a guarding posture, trying to put some distance and some kind of defense between him and the incoming attacks. Instead he stumbled over his own feet in his panic and landed flat on his ass before the clear fluid and the flames engulfed him.

Herohero was still trying to pull himself back together when everything happened. A column of fire and a bolt of lightning stuck his prone form, eliciting an eruption of slime, an extremely loud and unintelligible sound, and a scream over the telepathic channel he had access to.

A bubble of fluid and a bolt of lightning both struck at Tigris Euphrates. As the two attacks got near his form blurred and flickered, the bubble struck the ground and splattered fluid everywhere, and the lightning bolt struck the floor. Tigris Euphrates stood several feet back from where he was when Lucifer cast his spell, whole and unharmed.

Fire, lightning, and fluid struck at Lucifer, fiercer than anything the other three were attacked with. Lucifer stood and did nothing. All three attacks struck something, almost like an invisible wall eight inches from his skin. Then the fire went out, the lightning faded away, and the clear liquid vanished as it fell to the floor, leaving him untouched.

Before anyone could do or say anything, the next event had already begun.

As Momonga fell to the ground, doused in the now smoking liquid, the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown in his hand glowed with a sinister dark light before seven lances of purest darkness emerged from the seven gems and lanced out at Lucifer.

The hovering guild member juked to one side, swift as lightning, but the black bolts curved in the air to strike at him regardless. However, just like the other previous attacks, the bolts of dark energy struck some invisible force and faded away with a crackling hiss and the smell of ozone.

Lucifer closed his eyes and sighed. "I love my Protective Aura. I love it so, so much."

"What the hell was that Lucifer-san!?" Momonga quickly got to his feet, Staff in hand, the burning flames that were his eyes seemingly darkened in rage, smoking liquid still clinging to him. Tigris Euphrates stood to one side, equally incensed. Herohero was still trying to pull himself back together.

Before Lucifer could answer the question, the door opened and Albedo stormed inside. "Masters, are you alright!? I heard a noise and-"

"Did you receive permission to open that door!?"

Lucifer's sudden rebuke stopped Albedo in her tracks. "I-I'm sorry Lucifer-sama, but-"

He didn't allow her to finish. "I told you we intended to have a private conversation! OUT! NOW!"

Seeing four apparently angry Supreme Beings staring at her, Albedo went pale as she hastened to obey. She rushed out faster than she rushed in, amidst stammering apologies, shutting the door behind her.

Lucifer sighed, but the others weren't so relieved. "You shouldn't have been so harsh Lucifer-san, she was only trying to help."

"Leave it to Lucifer-san to bully a girl."

The blonde figure just looked at the three of them. Herohero had managed to get himself upright again. Lucifer's tone was utterly unapologetic. "I gave distinct orders to stay out, she disregarded them. My response was perfectly legitimate. So far the NPCs seem to be subservient; it wouldn't be a good idea to let them get the idea that disobedience can be tolerated."

The way Lucifer said that made Momonga a little bit nervous. "That's rather… dictatorial Lucifer-san."

Lucifer shrugged. "It's authoritarian at the very least. The loyalty of the NPC's has to be tested at some point, that's what I propose we do next. If they decided to rise against us, it would be bad. Discerning exactly what position and authority we hold here is very important. At least now we know that our magic and abilities still work just like inside the game. Speaking of which… [Life Essence]."

All three of them flinched away as Lucifer activated another spell. "That's about what I figured, nobody was hurt too badly. Here, [Cleanse], [Heal], [Greater Lethal]."

With the first spell, the liquid coating Momonga vanished. With the second, a golden light surrounded Herohero, prompting a sigh of relief over the telepathic channel, and with the last what looked like a bolt of black lightning lanced out and struck Momonga. The skeleton flinched but the small pits and divots that covered his various bones filled in quickly, and leaving Momonga feeling rather refreshed.

Momonga looked down at himself, realizing that more important things had to be asked. The incident with Albedo wasn't the most pleasant of events, but first things first. "What exactly happened back there Lucifer-san? What did you do to make all of this happen?"

Lucifer looked over towards the door, or rather toward the spot where the air seemed to crack. "I used an Arcane Eye spell; I figured that some harmless reconnaissance magic would be well suited towards our purposes, enabling us to discover whether or not magic could be used here without putting anything at risk by using more destructive spells. As for how I did it…." Lucifer closed his eyes for a moment. "I felt inside myself for this core of energy I could feel, and then spoke the words of the spell I wanted to use, wishing the eye to appear over the door. It was quite a pleasant feeling."

Before anyone could ask any questions, Lucifer opened his eyes and continued. "After that, things are more speculation than hard fact but I have a pretty good idea of what happened. And you all would too if you would stop panicking for a few moments and think. I believe that the Arcane Eye triggered the anti-scrying defenses that you three have erected around yourselves. Momonga, am I correct in assuming that you set things up so that any hostile scrying attempt would be received by an Eighth Tier lightning spell intended to strike the spy and anyone nearby?"

Momonga realized the implications of what Lucifer was getting at and the idea stunned him to the point that all he could do was nod.

"I thought so. My guess would be the fire would be Tigris' defense, and the acid was Herohero's contribution. All three were meant to hit anyone who spied on you and anyone who happened to be standing nearby. My spell triggered all three, and the spells in question came at me and anyone else nearby who wasn't the one who set the spell. That's why you were ignored by the lightning Momonga, and the acid left Herohero alone, and Tigris was not struck by fire. After that, the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown's automatic engagement feature kicked in, judging me to be the originator of the attack upon your person, and striking at me with seven Eighth Tier 'Dark Lance' spells in retaliation."

Tigris Euphrates repeated the most important piece of information. "There's friendly fire now."

Lucifer nodded. "That seems to be the case, yes. We'll have to keep that in mind in the future."

Momonga tried to consider exactly how huge that piece of information was. If there was going to be any fighting in the future, this would heavily affect it. In YGGDRASIL it didn't matter if allies were in the range of area of effect magic, now that would have to be taken into account. He spoke up "We have to ensure our own safety everyone. I agree with Lucifer-san that we have to meet the NPCs and determine where we stand with them. We also have to look at the built in defenses of the tomb. If we can activate and control the golems then we won't be defenseless if they come at us all at once."

The three agreed with him. Momonga looked over at Herohero and asked him "How are you doing Herohero-san? Can you move around without falling over? We can't afford to show any weakness."

Herohero, currently resembling his typical form in YGGDRASIL, sort of, kind of nodded. "I think so Momonga-san. It's getting easier to get everything to do what I want." The ambulatory mass of shifting sludge quickly slipped from the middle of the floor to one of the side walls, and then zigzagged to the other wall before coming to a stop right in front of the three. "Moving is easier than I thought it would be. I'm not so sure about fighting, and I haven't figured out how to actually talk yet, but I shouldn't be falling over anymore."

Momonga sighed in relief, but before he could say anything Herohero continued "I feel kind of weird though."

He perked up at that, the relief vanishing in an instant. "Weird? How do you mean you feel weird Herohero-san?"

The ooze made a motion that might have been a shrug. "Weird. Like, I feel tired and not tired at the same time. And hungry. Really hungry, actually."

Tigris Euphrates made an inquisitive sound. "You said, back before all this happened, that you were exhausted. Now you're a slime and you _can't_ get tired. Maybe that's it?"

"Maybe"

Lucifer leaned forward a bit. "While this is all rather fascinating, may I suggest that we get going? We can get Albedo to gather the Floor Guardians, fool around with the golems, get something to eat for Herohero, and then see what Sebastian has to say to us."

Tigris nodded. "That seems like a sound plan for now."

The four of them made their way to the throne room's door. Albedo was waiting just outside. Upon seeing the four of them she bowed low at the waist. "Greetings Masters, I hope your discussions were fruitful?"

Momonga nodded. "They were. Listen Albedo, we have an order for you."

Albedo's golden eyes took on a slightly hungry glint. "Anything"

"Gather the various Floor Guardians to the sixth floor's coliseum in one hour. Don't bother with Victim or Gargantua. Or the twins for that matter, we'll be informing them ourselves."

Albedo managed to bow even lower. "Yes Momonga-sama, gather Shalltear, Demiurge, and Cocytus and bring them to the coliseum on the sixth floor in one hour. They will be there."

"Then go"

"Yes milord."

They watched the Overseer turn and leave at an admirable speed before they turned their attention to the sixty seven golems adorning the walls of the Lemegeton. Momonga took a deep breath, which once again made no sense considering his lack of lungs, and moved toward one wall. "Okay, let's see if this works. Heed my call, Demon of Lemegeton!"

At Momonga's words the nearest golem took one step forward and stood at attention. The Guildmaster let out a sigh. "Okay, the golems work. Even if the NPCs turn against us, between these golems and all the items we have in our boxes we should be able to ensure our own safety."

Tigris Euphrates let out a small sigh of relief, Herohero was harder to read but he probably felt the same sense of security. Lucifer however just floated there, looking up at the monster disguised as a chandelier, looking uninterested in the proceedings.

Momonga made a note of that, but now wasn't the time to bring it up. "Okay, here's what I think. We have an hour before Albedo turns up in the coliseum. We should take this time to familiarize ourselves with the more… strenuous parts of getting around the absent HUD. We know magic works, but I'd personally like to get in some practice before we meet the guardians. If they all decide to come at us we'll have to be ready. Furthermore, Tigris Euphrates-san and Herohero-san have more physically inclined builds. We have to see if your skills work properly."

Momonga felt a strange sensation in his head, something that could only be described as 'approval'. Herohero didn't move or say anything, but Momonga figured it came from him. Tigris Euphrates stared at one of his hands. "I'm pretty sure our skills work, Momonga-san. I dodged those two counterattack spells without even really trying to, so I think I activated something without even trying to. But I think you're right in that we should get in some practice, we have to get used to using what we have. But what about the twins? Won't they see what we're doing?"

Lucifer spoke, still staring up at the chandelier. "He wants the twins to see. He intends to gauge Aura and Mare's reaction to us, and use the guise of 'training' to show off our powers in the hopes of cowing them into obedience."

All three of them stared at Lucifer as the angelic figure turned to look at Momonga. "Isn't that right, Guildmaster?"

Momonga, thoroughly taken aback at being so easily seen through, slowly nodded. "We have to be sure that they won't turn on us Lucifer-san, don't you think so? Showing that we're the strongest is a good way to do so."

Lucifer raised one pale eyebrow. "But you're not the strongest. Out of the Floor Guardians, at least three of them should be able to easily take you one-on-one, and several others could make a serious attempt. Throwing around a few fireball spells won't change anyone's mind."

'Something is strange here.' Momonga couldn't help but feel that something was definitely off. 'Lucifer-san has always been on the ball, but he shouldn't be able to guess what I'm going to do THAT precisely, could he?'

Before Momonga could ask any questions, Lucifer continued. "Herohero says that he's starving, so I think it would be best to split up here. The two of us will hit the kitchen and see if the sense of taste somehow works, something tells me that it will. After that we'll meet up with the two of you in the coliseum to meet the Floor Guardians." He turned away and floated away a few inches "Oh, Momonga!" He turned back to look at the skeleton. "If you want my advice, you're better off not trying to show off overwhelming power, instead you should be prepared to act like a king. Act like you're in charge, keep your sentences short and to the point, don't offer any unnecessary explanations or apologies, and don't be afraid to crack the whip. They'll definitely fall in line. The same goes for you, Tigris, don't show weakness. That's it. Come on Hero."

After a moment's hesitation, Herohero turned to follow Lucifer before both of them vanished.

"Well, I think we can safely say that the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown still works the way it should."

Tigris Euphrates gave a shallow nod, still eyeing the space that was recently vacated by their fellow comrades. Momonga tried to get a read on his expression, but he couldn't really manage it. His face was completely blank and Momonga couldn't guess what he might be thinking.

Momonga drew in a slow breath, held it for a second, and let it out again. That whole conversation seemed really weird, but now wasn't the time to dwell on it. "Okay, to the coliseum, I'll see you there."

He focused his thoughts on the ring he wore on his right ring finger, the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown, and thought about where he wanted to go. He flinched when he was suddenly plunged into darkness, but it only lasted a moment before light returned, and Momonga found himself in a different place.

A quick look around was enough for Momonga to get his bearings. He was in a hall built out of stone, with flaming torches set in iron sconces on the walls. Ahead of him was a portcullis more than twenty feet tall. He was in one of the hallways leading into the main area of the coliseum, just like he wanted.

Momonga tried to clamp down on the anxiety that continued to build up ever since this whole situation started. 'What if they turn on us? I don't think loyalty was ever specifically mentioned in any of their personal settings, and even then it's not like everyone was perfect. So far, they seem to be consistent with their settings, but nobody's perfect, if someone made a mistake in their settings then how will that reflect itself in their behavior?'

After a moment the feelings of ill portent faded and he was able to start focusing on what to be doing next. 'The idea was to experiment with magic to be sure it still works right. But that doesn't mean that I have to practice with destructive spells first, does it?'

If he was alone, Momonga might have gone into the arena to meet the Guardians without a plan, using some made up excuse of experimenting with magic to cover up his real intentions while he figured out whether or not he was impotent, and risked making himself look incompetent in the process. But Lucifer pointed out something very simple that his panic-addled mind had overlooked. One does not necessarily have to experiment with destructive spells to determine whether or not magic can be used.

'Okay, Lucifer-san said that he focused on what he wanted to do and felt this energy inside of him right? Let's give this a try….' He thought about the spell he wanted to use and suddenly Lucifer's brief explanation made more sense. He felt an energy inside of him, something that he never felt before, and Momonga felt the word come to him as everything took shape. "[Message]"

He felt something like a string in his mind stretch to the target he wanted to communicate with, and after a moment the connection was made. "Sebas Tian, can you hear me?"

The voice of the butler of Nazarick echoed in his ears, loud and clear and. "I can hear you perfectly, Momonga-sama, what is your command?"

Momonga got the impression that Sebas could quite possibly be bowing at this very moment, but collected himself before he could get distracted. "Ah, yes, how has your search been going? What have you found out there?"

"As Tigris Euphrates-sama commanded us, I and the Pleiades have searched the area surrounding the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Currently we are in a large swathe of grassy plains and we have seen no sign of intelligent life or construction of any kind."

The answer stunned the skeleton, but at this point he was getting used to the utterly unexpected and quickly regained his mental footing. After a moment he continued his questioning "Grasslands Sebas? Not a swamp of any kind?" In YGGDRASIL, The Great Tomb of Nazarick was situated in the midst of a swamp. Numerous poisonous marshes and pools enshrouded in mist and fog and filled with dangerous monsters that haunted the treacherous paths guarded Nazarick on all sides in the darkness of Helheim.

"Yes Momonga-sama, we are currently in the midst of an area of lush grasslands."

This was almost too much to handle for Momonga, but he carried on "Is there anything in the sky, Sebas? A flying castle? Magical incantations? Anything?"

"No, Momonga-sama, the sky is currently clear, blue, and dotted with a moderate amount of cloud cover; there are no structures in the nearby area that we have seen."

Now what? Momonga considered his options and told Sebas Tian "Alright, I want you to return to Nazarick. There's going to be a meeting in the coliseum on the sixth floor in forty minutes and I expect you all to be there. You will tell everyone what you have seen out there, understood?"

"Perfectly Momonga-sama, we will certainly be there on time."

Momonga ended the call and examined the walls. He wasn't sure how to react to all of this. 'Where on earth ARE we?'

Before he could dwell on that overmuch, Tigris Euphrates emerged from thin air just behind him. He seemed to have regained some of his energy, he was smiling now and his previous dour expression was nowhere to be seen. "Momonga-san! Sorry for making you wait."

The skeleton turned to face him. "It's no problem Tigris-san, but if you don't mind me asking, just what took you so long?"

The red giant shrugged. "Eh, I just had to take a moment to get my head on straight, think about things for a minute. So, we're meeting the twins right? What's the game plan?"

Momonga tilted his head slightly to one side. "Game plan? What do you suggest?"

Tigris Euphrates sighed. "Come on now, we're worried about potential betrayal right? So how are we going to play this? How do we present ourselves? I'm thinking that Lucifer's advice seems to be our best bet. Stay stern and authoritative and watch them fall in line. I have a pretty good feeling that that approach will work out for us. What do you think?"

He felt a bit worried about that, what if they tried to be strict but that only encouraged dissent? "Are you sure about this Tigris-san? We might want to be more… gentle, don't you think?"

The giant crossed his arms and looked to the ceiling. "Well, I was thinking about this a moment ago, and given what we've seen and heard so far I think Lucifer has the right idea. For now anyway. I mean, when has Lucifer ever steered us wrong?"

"Are you seriously asking that right now Tigris-san?"

Tigris Euphrates smiled. "Okay, maybe I should rephrase that. When has Lucifer ever steered us wrong unintentionally?"

That one made Momonga think for a moment. "I'm honestly not sure. It's hard to tell if he does it intentionally or not. You think he has the right idea?"

Tigris nodded "I do. I find that he gives good advice if he's not deliberately setting you up for a fall, although I'll be the first to admit that it always sounds like good advice until it blows up in your face. Anyway, right now he has every interest in seeing us succeed given that his well being is at stake too. With that in mind, I think we should take his advice on this one. I mean, getting people is kind of his thing isn't it?"

"While it's certainly true that he's probably the most socially capable out of us, my question is how well that translates into working with the NPCs. It's not like we have any guarantees that they're going to react the way he thinks they're going to."

"Well, the only way we're going to find out is to try it. So, after you." Tigris made a sweeping gesture with one arm as he made a slight bow, like a cheesy doorman.

Momonga just sighed and started walking, Tigris walking right beside him although Momonga had to take four or five steps for every one of his.

Together they walked down the torch-lit corridor as the portcullis opened automatically, and light engulfed the two as they stepped into the main arena.

"Well, here we go."

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And that just about wraps up chapter two. This one gave me some trouble, and I think the next one will be just as difficult considering that I have to account for how the Guardians will react to four Supreme Beings rather than just one, and how Momonga's personality and choices will be impacted by having several of his comrades ready at hand and how the Guardians will react to _that_.

I had to decide whether or not to end it where I did or go all the way past the meeting with the Guardians and make the biggest chapter that I've ever put out, but I decided to cut it so that I could actually update like I said I would when volume nine was fully translated. I didn't expect the guys at skythewood to finish the entirety of volume nine when they did, those guys are machines. Shame that we'll probably never see a translation of volume ten until 2022 or something like that.

You probably noticed that Luci Fer has been changed to Lucifer. There are a couple of reasons for that. His actual name, as it is given is Luci(star)Fer with an actual star in the middle. I haven't the slightest idea of how to actually make that happen in any text program and I have no real desire to learn. But it's obvious that the only reason he didn't name himself after the Daystar was because the game probably didn't let him. So that was his compromise. Now, they're not in YGGDRASIL and there's no reason to actually obey the game's arbitrary naming restrictions. Another reason is because it's obnoxious typing out Luci Fer every time I refer to the guy and have to get that through my spell check. So I will be referring to him as Lucifer from here on.

Next up, a bit more about YGGDRASIL mechanics.

LEVELS

YGGDRASIL is a pretty unique game when it comes to its leveling system. There's really no such thing as a level one hundred ANYTHING. While the level cap is one hundred, a character gets there by adding together their total class levels of a variety of different classes. The maximum level for any given class is at most fifteen, while more uncommon classes have a maximum level of ten, and rare classes max out at five. So to reach level one hundred a character has to have a bare minimum of seven different classes. Likewise, the opposite is available. It's possible, though extremely inefficient, to create a character with one hundred classes each at level one.

Demi-human and Heteromorphic races get to choose racial levels in addition to job levels, but humanoid races like humans and elves can only choose job levels. There are pros and cons to both ways of doing things. But overall, the class system of YGGDRASIL gives a ridiculous amount of leeway for character creation.

And now, for those who read the LN (or browse the wiki) this will be a familiar sight but for those who don't, a glance at a typical character sheet. I'll be putting these up where and when appropriate.

 **MOMONGA**

 **The Cautious Overlord**

 **Alignment-** -500 – Extremely Evil

 **Job-** Guildmaster of Ainz Ooal Gown/ One of the Forty One Supreme Beings

 **Residence-** Great Tomb of Nazarick

 **Racial Level- 40**

Skeleton Mage Lv.15

Elder Lich Lv.10

Overlord Lv.5

Others

 **Job Level- 60**

Necromancer Lv.10

Master of Death Lv.10

Eclipse Lv.5

Others

 **HP:** 60

 **MP:** Exceeds Limit

 **Phys. Atk:** 35

 **Phys. Def:** 70

 **Agility:** 40

 **Mag. Atk:** 90

 **Mag. Def:** 95

 **Resistance:** 95

 **Special Ability:** 100

 **Total:** 685+

Okay, that's it. Please review and let me know what you all think about how things have been going thus far, and I'll see you again in the next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

So I've been thinking, and I've come to a decision. The original light novel for this series is written by a Japanese man, in Japanese. But he uses a fair amount of English throughout the whole thing. But sometimes it doesn't come out quite right, the meaning is correct but the parlance isn't quite there. For example, one term you hear over and over again is 'magic caster'. Doesn't that just roll off the tongue? Not 'spell caster' or just 'caster' but 'magic caster', two consonants right after the other, and the same consonant to boot! It just feels clunky and wrong. Hence why I've been using 'spell caster' throughout the story and will continue to do so.

In the same vein, I've been thinking about the term 'Elder Lich'. That doesn't seem quite right either. At first I thought it was some distinction, that there were Liches and then Elder Liches but nothing I've seen throughout all nine volumes of the light novel have mentioned that. And that makes me think that there's no such thing as a normal Lich, just Elder Lich. Which makes me think that Maruyama misheard or otherwise misunderstood things, or some other wires got crossed somewhere along the line. So to that end, I will only be using the term 'Lich' rather than 'Elder Lich'. I'm taking a stand for the English language dammit! The Japanese can come up with as many funky terms as they want in their own language and I'll go along with that, but when they start borrowing and misusing English terms I take umbrage, and will not hesitate to make corrections within my own work. Although, to be fair, the term 'Lich' isn't strictly English.

So that's where we stand now. I'll make notes as things go on if I'm going to be replacing any other Overlord terms with the correct English usage, but I don't think there will be many. 'Magic Caster' and 'Elder Lich' are the two big ones that you hear over and over again. There's one more for certain, but it isn't exactly relevant and I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with it. I'll bring it up when it's relevant.

Okay, I'm done, on with the show!

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Chapter 3

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Momonga and Tigris Euphrates walked down the stone hall, both silent and stern. This was no time for jokes; it would be no exaggeration to say that everything hinged on the next hour or so. Where did they stand with the NPCs? That vital question had to be answered.

A huge portcullis blocked the way to the arena proper. Twenty feet tall and at least half that wide, it was made of steel and engraved with numerous spells meant to deter those who would open the way by force.

The two all but ignored the potential obstacle and walked straight toward it without slowing down. As they got near it, the magical doorway rattled where it stood and slowly moved upward with the squeal of metal against stone.

Paying the phenomenon no mind, the two walked on. But Momonga hesitated for a moment. Tigris was twice his size and the portcullis wasn't coming up all that quickly. Should he wait here with Tigris until the door opened or go ahead without him?

Before he could come to a decision however, they had already reached the offending division. He turned to Tigris, ready to offer apologies about the wait, but what he saw startled him into silence.

Tigris Euphrates, human sized.

The red skinned figure, now only have a head taller than Momonga himself, gave him a quick wink and kept on walking, he had never even slowed down.

Momonga cursed himself for a fool as he hurried after Tigris Euphrates. 'How could I forget that racial trait? Of course that thing wouldn't be a bother for him, he can change his size as much as he wants, how could I have forgotten that?' How much else had he forgotten about his comrades after all this time spent alone?

Then the moment of introspection passed and the pair had walked out into the arena proper.

The coliseum was a massive stone construction seven stories tall and based on the coliseum in Rome. From where they stood they could see the numerous boxes of stands occupied by innumerable golems made of smooth stone. The entire structure was enchanted by the 'Continuous Light' spell so it was bright as day regardless of the time.

Momonga gazed up at the night sky that was projected over the ceiling. This was one of only two floors with an actual diurnal cycle, the other being the eighth floor. For a moment he just stood there, surrounded by the scent of nature, taking in the sky even though the stars couldn't be seen thanks to the coliseum's light.

Then the moment passed and he hurried to catch up to Tigris Euphrates, he hadn't stopped moving at all although he had grown back to his usual height of ten feet and change.

As he moved, he started looking around the coliseum. The twins should be in charge here….

"Hey there!"

He and Tigris both looked toward the source of the voice, the VIP box near the top, and saw a figure jump down.

It was a six storey drop, but the small figure landed as though it was weightless, absorbing the impact with the slightest flex of the knees, when it came back up it held both hands up in V's for victory and gave a smile that had all the warmth of the sun.

She was a dark elf, as shown by her long ears and brown skin, with short blonde hair and heterochromia. Her left eye was the deep blue of the ocean while the other reminded one of forest leaves. She wore a long sleeved shirt of red dragon leather under a white vest with golden trim and the crest of Ainz Ooal Gown embroidered over the heart. The pants and shoes were of the same white and gold style, while her hands were covered in gloves of tough hide. A necklace adorned with a golden acorn rested around her neck, a whip was coiled around her waist, and on her back she carried a longbow of white wood with delicate engravings.

One of the Guardians of the sixth floor, Aura Bella Fiora.

Tigris Euphrates stopped walking and gestured for her to come over as Momonga caught up with him. Without saying anything the young elf immediately started running toward them. Her steps were small and mousy, but they devoured distance with surprising speed.

In seconds she skidded to a stop before the two of them, wiped the sweat from her brow, although she wasn't sweating, and gave them a tentative smile like someone looking and hoping for praise. Her voice was high and sweet as she bowed and said "Welcome Momonga-sama, Tigris Euphrates-sama, welcome to the sixth floor!"

She lacked the elegance and respectfulness that Albedo and Sebas displayed, but it all felt more open and friendly. Throughout everything Aura never lost her sunny smile, but Momonga couldn't tell if that smile was real or fake, he lacked the kind of experience that would let him tell. But she didn't seem like she was going to attack like he feared.

Before he could scramble for some way to start the conversation, Tigris Euphrates did it for him.

"Aura Bella Fiora, Guardian of the sixth floor, it is good to see that you're well. Tell me, where is your brother? Shouldn't he be here too?"

In response, Aura immediately turned around and shouted at the VIP box. "HEY! The Supreme Beings are here! How long are you going to make them wait!?"

Momonga looked up, and he was fairly sure he could see a shadow quivering in the box's shade.

"Is that him?"

"Yes Momonga-sama. The scaredy-cat is too afraid to jump down."

A quivering voice could be heard, but it didn't seem to come from the box, it seemed to come from Aura's necklace. "Um… sister…."

Aura gave an exasperated sigh before looking back at the two of them, looking apologetic. "The thing is… Tigris Euphrates-sama, Momonga-sama, sirs, he's just timid and cowardly, he's not being intentionally rude."

Before Momonga could respond with some empty platitude, Tigris Euphrates stepped in. "We don't have time for him to be timid or scared or anything else, we need to talk to you both so get him down here, now." Tigris' glower was fierce and his tone brooked no argument. Aura visibly shrank before his gaze and turned back to the box, looking almost panicked. "Mare! You're starting to get them angry! Jump off now before I go up there and push you!"

Upon hearing that his hesitation was angering the masters gathered to see him, the shadow in the VIP box gathered every scrap of courage and leapt down to the arena floor. The landing wasn't as steady or controlled as Aura's, but he kept his feet and immediately started running towards them. He was swift, but nowhere near as swift as Aura.

Aura barked at him "Hurry up!"

"Okay, okay…."

He was a dark elf just like Aura, but while they had the same skin tone and the same golden hair, they differed in many ways. Where Aura's left eye was blue and her right was green, his were the other way around. Aura's hair was wild, his was well groomed. He wore a shirt of the same dragon leather but while hers was read, his was blue; her gloves were of tough hide while his were of the same white cloth and gold trim that made up his vest. Aura wore shoes, he wore calf high boots of the same hide that made up Aura's gloves, Aura wore socks while he had stockings up to his thighs. She had pants, he had a skirt that showed a fair amount of thigh.

He wore a forest green cloak around his shoulders, a necklace adorned with a silver acorn, and held a staff of twisted dark wood. Aura's twin brother and the other Guardian of the sixth floor, Mare Bello Fiore.

In Momonga's opinion, if Aura had all the brilliance of the sun, then Mare had qualities that reminded one of the moon, where she was fiery and passionate, he was humble and meek. Before he could consider the subject any more, Mare reached them and immediately bowed down.

"I'm terribly sorry for making you wait Momonga-sama, Tigris Euphrates-sama, please forgive me!"

Tigris looked down his nose at him, and Mare visibly shivered. After a moment the red giant rumbled "Mare Bello Fiore, it's good to see that you're in good health." Mare started to relax "However..." The boy tensed up again "However, the fact that you are in good health means that you have no excuse for making us wait as you did."

Mare went pale as a sheet.

"W-wait a moment!"

Aura's voice was high and panicky as she stepped in. She got next to Mare and bowed so low that she almost seemed to be talking to her knees. "Please Tigris Euphrates-sama, please forgive him, I promise I'll make sure that something like this never happens again. So please…."

Mare looked over to his sister, seeming close to tears. "Sis…."

Momonga looked on as Tigris Euphrates stared down at the two of them. He wasn't sure what to do, wasn't sure how he could step in. He wasn't really comfortable with how things were going, but Momonga knew that right now the most important thing was a united front. They couldn't afford to be divided, or to appear divided. So he kept his silence, determined only to step in if things truly got out of hand.

After several moments of glaring down at the twins, both shivering and sweating under his baleful gaze, he finally spoke. "Fine, it isn't worth the effort it would take to actually punish you for this. But I expect that there will be no repeat performance."

The twins sagged in relief upon hearing his words. Aura straightened slightly and looked up at him. "Thank you Tigris Euphrates-sama, thank you, I'll make sure that you don't regret this."

Mare was equally overjoyed "Th-thank you Tigris Euphrates-sama."

Tigris nodded. "Now, stand up straight. I said we came here to talk to you and we've wasted enough time with this nonsense already."

The twins immediately came to full attention, Aura was wiping real sweat from her brow now and beside her Mare was doing the same.

Tigris continued on "Not long ago, something happened to Nazarick. You'll get the full details in the near future, but for now we have a question. Has anything happened on this floor in the last several hours? Any changes, strange phenomena, anything out of the ordinary?"

Mare looked at Aura while she looked down and considered the question. After a moment she bowed and replied "No Tigris Euphrates-sama, nothing strange has happened on the sixth floor. I'm sorry that I couldn't be of more help."

The giant man nodded. "In that case, you should be aware that in about twenty five minutes we will be hosting a meeting here in the coliseum, most of the Floor Guardians will be in attendance, as will Herohero-san and Lucifer-san."

Aura stood up straight and responded "Then we will immediately begin preparations to receive them all, although… I'm not sure how much we can get done in so little time but we'll do our best to receive them properly."

Tigris shook his head. "Don't bother, there's no time and no point for something like that. We'll meet them all with the coliseum as it is now."

"Yes Tigris Euphrates-sama." The twins replied.

Momonga wanted to find some way to talk to the twins in a more informal manner, but that was looking less and less likely to happen given this strict atmosphere. After a moment though, he was struck by an idea for how to shift things towards what he wanted. He considered the elaborate Staff in his hand, and focused on the red gem in particular. He could feel the power within the gem, within the entire Staff, itching to be released upon the world. Finally with a series of words, he activated the effect.

"[Summon Primal Fire Elemental]"

A ball of light formed atop the head of the staff before flying away behind the twins. The moment the ball of light touched the ground it was surrounded by a whirlwind of blazing fire. Within seconds the creature took on humanoid appearance, made of roaring flame with what looked to be bones of ash and soot and smoke, everything below the figure's waist was nothing but a raging inferno.

All four felt the massive spike in temperature when the creature appeared, although only the twins were bothered by it. Tigris Euphrates was immune to fire, and while Momonga was weak to that element he had his equipment set up to completely nullify the typical weakness of the undead.

The strange thing was the feeling of _connectedness_ he experienced towards the incarnation of ancient flame. A connection to its thoughts, to its actions, to everything that it was surged through him and he had no doubt that it would obey him.

Both the twins and Tigris Euphrates were looking at him, asking a silent question. Momonga responded "We have some time before the other Guardians arrive here, and nothing more to talk to you two about at this time. The two of us will wait up in the VIP box; the two of you can fight this to entertain us in the meantime."

Aura examined the Elemental with a look of pure excitement and eagerness, beside her Mare looked like he would rather be anywhere else but he didn't run. Aura turned to Momonga with a fierce and happy smile as she told him "If the Supreme Beings wish to be entertained, then as their servants we Guardians will spare no effort in ensuring that they are satisfied." She placed a hand over her heart and bowed low "Please, Momonga-sama, Tigris Euphrates-sama, if you will take your places in the VIP box we shall begin the exhibition at your order."

Momonga glanced at Tigris Euphrates, who looked a little confused by the sudden turn of events and change in topic, and then he glanced at the VIP box up above before using his Ring to teleport there.

The VIP box was a place of leisure. Located on one side of the roughly oval coliseum, it stretched along and provided front row seats for forty one soft, thick cushioned armchairs of red velvet. The entire area was covered in thick carpeting, shaded by the stone ceiling, and refreshments were available upon command. This was to be the private box of Ainz Ooal Gown members as unlucky intruders of the Great Tomb of Nazarick faced the worst that the sixth floor had to offer, which typically consisted of Aura, Mare, and numerous magical beasts slaughtering whatever poor fools managed to make it this far. Aura and Mare were the Guardians of the sixth floor and, in a way, the champions of the coliseum. Only one group had ever defeated them and that 'group' was better described as an army.

After a moment the giant joined Momonga in the box, his head less than a foot from the ceiling. About two feet from the front of the chairs the floor just stopped and one had a view of the arena that couldn't be beat. They could clearly see that Aura had put away her bow and taken her whip in hand, a fierce and predatory smile on her face as Mare took his position behind her as the two faced what was arguably the most powerful Elemental monster that wasn't a boss.

Momonga shouted at the top of his lungs, not that he had any, "BEGIN!" and mentally ordered the Primal Elemental to attack.

As the twins promptly attacked the Primal Fire Elemental, Tigris Euphrates turned to him. "So, what's the point of the living campfire down there?"

The skeleton shrugged as he moved to take a seat. "A couple of reasons. One was to see how summoning worked, if it worked at all. The other was to get us out of that conversation and buy us some time until the meeting starts."

Tigris shrunk down to roughly human size as he took the chair next to Momonga. "I see. So you thought I was doing something wrong? What? I thought I was doing pretty well for myself, they didn't look like they were going to try to start anything."

Momonga considered what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it. "I think… that we shouldn't be that harsh Tigris-san. There was no need to go that far with your reprimand, don't you think?"

The red man leaned forward with his elbows on his knees as he looked down at the twins fighting. "I'm afraid that I don't agree. There's nothing wrong with making sure that your subordinates know what is and what is not acceptable and that you won't hesitate to call them to task for an unsatisfactory performance. I admit that I may have been a little harsher than necessary, but you only get to make one first impression Momonga-san. It's better to be feared than loved, as long as you are not hated. At least according to Machiavelli. I intended to make it clear that I have high expectations and will accept no excuses. I don't apologize for that."

Before Momonga could respond to that, a strange sensation echoed through his head. Almost like a ringing sound. Before he could really think about this sensation or what it meant it stopped and replaced by a voice. " _Momonga? Can you hear me?"_

He sat up straight at the sudden surprise. "Lucifer-san? Is that you?"

Tigris looked over at Momonga suddenly talking to himself but didn't say anything. Lucifer's voice, on the other hand, did. _"Ah, good, the [Message] spell works. I thought you would like to know, Herohero has currently turned into a black hole."_

Momonga was too stunned by the strangeness of the sentence to say anything. Before he could start to feel anxious or worried the voice continued. _"He is currently eating an entire side of beef."_

The skeleton sat back in his seat, mildly relaxed by the explanation. "Well, he did say he was hungry Lucifer-san." Lucifer's voice immediately responded _"Allow me to clarify; he is currently eating an entire side of beef from a Jotunheim Bull."_

 _That_ gave Momonga pause. Of the nine worlds of YGGDRASIL, Jotunheim was the realm of the Giants. Much of the local wildlife was built to the same scale. A Jotunheim bull was approximately three and a half times the size of a real world cow. A side of beef from such a beast was several times larger than a man.

"That's… a bit more extreme."

" _And that's after he had no less than a dozen partridges and three entire roasted boars. Whole pigs. I suggest we get a time lock for the kitchens or this thing is going to eat us out of house and home. You should see him; he's just sort of extended over one side of it and moving slowly forward, dissolving the entire thing inch by inch."_

"That's…."

" _It's absurd is what it is, as soon as we have a spare moment we're getting him is a Ring of Sustenance and he is never taking it off. We're going to have issues enough in the long run feeding the maids, we don't need this nonsense too. Still, that's an issue for another time; I just thought you'd like to know what we're in for. By the way, not that it matters for you but I can confirm that the sense of taste works, which is impossible given current laws and the limits of Dive Technology but what else is new? How are the twins? Have they started plotting rebellion? Need we fear the heralds of nature crushing us 'neath their sandaled feet or did they fall in line just like I told you they would?"_

"No, I don't think we have to fear rebellion, at least not from the twins. Tigris-san… took a firm hand with the matter."

" _I see, well that's good to know. We received quite the welcome here in the kitchens, the head chef and sous chef were more than eager to create things to, and I quote 'sate the hungers of the Supreme Masters'. I'm starting to get a feel for how this all fits together Momonga, and if I'm right then we're looking at quite the favorable picture."_

"Wait, you mean you know what happened!? You know how we got here!?"

" _Goodness no, use your head. I was talking about our position amongst the NPCs. Long story short, we're in charge; don't give the impression that we're not. If Tigris Euphrates has the situation well in hand then let him do his thing."_ All of a sudden Lucifer stopped talking for several seconds.

" _I'm sorry, but I have to go. Herohero just finished the bull and is heading for the freezer. I'll make sure that he's there for the meeting."_ Then the sensation of the spell faded and Momonga was left along with Tigris Euphrates watching the twins fight. Momonga peered down at the two who were fighting his summoned monster.

It was a dazzling display of teamwork. The Primal Fire Elemental was probably the most potent elemental monster in terms of attack power and durability, but its agility wasn't so impressive. Aura was almost completely the opposite and it showed. The dark elf girl had her whip in hand and continued to lash the living fire at every opportunity she received between dodging the elemental's vicious attacks. While the elemental was no doubt very powerful, for someone like Aura it was nothing more than a huge target.

Things would have been one-sided enough with just Aura, but with Mare in the wings Aura didn't even have to think about being concerned. Mare cast spells that strengthened his sister and weakened the foe. He shielded her from the constant damage that anyone would suffer from getting too close to the blazing piece of sentient magic, buffed his sister's stats and helped hinder the creature's movements too. Momonga couldn't help but marvel at the two of them, at the difference between fighting in the game, and the real combat that he was witnessing now. Between the two of them, the Primal Fire Elemental was doomed to defeat.

Until, that is, a third party decided to take a hand in these events.

Tigris Euphrates peered down at the two dark elves dominating the fight before making a snatching motion with one hand.

Aura, who was in the act of side-stepping to avoid an uppercut from the Elemental, stumbled.

With a roar of flame the Elemental uppercut struck Aura in the belly, sending her flying back in a burst of stellar heat.

Mare immediately stepped forward, casting a spell that bound the Elemental in place to prevent it from following up on the attack while Aura hit the ground, rolled, and quickly got to her feet.

The little dark elf's eyes blazed with fury as she gazed at the Elemental. "Okay, FINE! You want to take a cheap shot like that, I'll show you how it's done!"

With a swift motion Aura lightly struck her own hip and her weapon curled around and tied itself to the handle. By the time that happened she already had drawn her bow. While Mare held the living fire in place with magic, Aura began a ranged bombardment. The style of the fight turned from something that almost resembled a bullfight to an outright execution as Aura mercilessly assailed her helpless target.

Tigris Euphrates looked over at the stunned Momonga. "Well, good news, my skills seem to work just fine." He looked down at his hand. "Although I will admit that it felt a little odd. I think I'm going to need to practice with what I can and can't do here. There's no telling what works the same and what's different now that we're not just selecting abilities off of a menu."

Momonga finally regained enough to himself to actually respond. "Tigris Euphrates-san! Why would you do something like that? What if she finds out that you did that to her? The whole point of this is to find out where we stand and you go around helping them get hurt! Why!?"

The red man looked over, nonplussed. "For a variety of reasons, some of them inspired by you. As much as I'd love to explain, I don't think we'll have much of a chance. The fight is over."

The Primal Fire Elemental didn't last long under Aura's continued sniping. The creature roared, struggled against Mare's magical binds, and melted away into nothingness. Momonga noted that the connection he felt with the Elemental faded with the creature.

Tigris nodded, stood, and grew to his full size. "Come on Momonga-san, let's get down there. The meeting is going to start in a few minutes and we wouldn't want to be late." Without another word the red giant vanished and reappeared down in front of the twins. Momonga had plenty of things that he wanted to say, but he knew now was not the time. He activated the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown and appeared beside Tigris.

Aura was suffused by a green glow as Mare healed her wounds, not that there were many. She only took one real hit and even that didn't do too much damage. As the spell finished both Aura and Mare bowed to the two of them. "Thank you masters for witnessing this exhibition, I hope we put on a good enough show."

Momonga jumped in before Tigris could say anything. "You both did a fine job, although I was sad to see you get hurt Aura."

Aura jumped a little at being addressed by Momonga. Then she let out a small nervous laugh and looked away while wiping the sweat from her brow. "I'm sorry you had to see that Momonga-sama, it was nothing really, I'm tougher than I look." Then she gestured to her brother "Besides, I've got nothing to worry about as long as Mare is around to heal me."

Momonga nodded. "Indeed, Mare provided excellent support throughout the battle."

Mare shied away from the sudden attention, but seemed to glow under the praise. "I-I di-didn't really do anything noteworthy, but thank you Momonga-sama."

Before Momonga could say anything else, the doors to the coliseum opened behind them. Everyone turned in time to witness a figure with twelve wings and a blob of purest darkness enter the arena.

The twins both gasped and immediately bowed down as the two approached them. "Welcome to our floor, Lucifer-sama, Herohero-sama!" "W-welcome"

Lucifer nodded to the pair. "Aura, Mare." He looked around at the surrounding ground, at the scorched and burnt patches left behind by the Elemental. "So, what happened here then?"

Aura perked up. "Ah, that was just us getting some exercise with the help of Momonga-sama."

Lucifer glanced over to Momonga. "Is that so?"

The skeleton nodded and reminded himself to display dignity in front of the NPCs. "Yes, I thought an exhibition would help pass the time as we waited for everyone to make their way here. How are you feeling Herohero?"

The Black Ooze twitched, and Momonga heard Herohero's voice in his head. "I'm still hungry. I don't know why but no matter how much I eat it doesn't really help all that much. It's kind of worrying."

Momonga felt worried for his friend, but wasn't really sure how to help. 'As a skeleton, can I even eat now?' But he wanted to assure his friend that nothing was wrong.

Before Momonga could try to reassure Herohero, a new voice made itself known. "Hmm? Could I be the first one to arrive?"

Darkness appeared on the ground before rising up into the shape of an oval. Out of the abyss stepped a girl.

She was dressed in a large ball gown, primarily black but with red trim. A tailored jacket of the same soft black material covered her from neck to waist, and long gloves covered her hands and arms. The entire ensemble was embellished with ribbon and lace. Her long platinum hair was held back in a ponytail, revealing a beautiful face, pale skin, and deep crimson eyes. The girl's chest was quite pronounced, in defiance of the rest of her figure, she was only about 4'7. The Guardian of the first, second, and third floors, Shalltear Bloodfallen.

Aura turned to Shalltear and immediately reprimanded her. "Teleportation of any kind is forbidden within Nazarick, weren't you deliberately told not to use [Portal]? There's a clear path to walk here, stop being so lazy and use your feet Shalltear."

The girl's voice was nothing short of frigid, but Shalltear completely ignored her, heading straight for the four assembled figures. Everyone nearby could smell her perfume.

"…It stinks."

Shalltear continued to ignore Aura as she went on "Maybe it's just the smell of the Undead in general since the meat is rotting."

Before things could go any further, Lucifer spoke up. "Aura, knock it off. Deliberately antagonizing her doesn't help anything."

Aura immediately bowed down. "I'm sorry!"

Lucifer nodded. "Better" Before anyone could say anything more, Shalltear had reached them.

She immediately threw her arms around Lucifer's neck and drew in to a close, tight hug.

Momonga, Tigris Euphrates, Herohero, and the twins all watched, stunned, as Shalltear hugged him close and licked her lips. "Ah, my beloved, my beautiful master. Words cannot describe my joy." She snuggled closer to him, pressing her face into his neck and breathing deeply.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow at the situation. "My my, aren't we forward? Now, come here…." He tugged at her arms and Shalltear quickly let go and took a step back, looking up at him, hopeful.

Momonga was sure that he was going to scold her. This was Lucifer for crying out loud. But if Shalltear's actions stunned him then Lucifer's actions almost caused his jaw to drop.

The floating figure drew in close and placed one hand at the base of her neck and gently raised it up, brushing her neck with his fingertips, to cup her chin. He drew closer and smiled. "Shalltear, there's a time and a place for everything, but I hardly think that this is the time or the place to do what you want to do. Patience."

Then he closed in and gave her a swift kiss on the cheek.

Shalltear's face went from a waxy paleness to beet red in seconds as she clapped her hands to her cheeks, staggering back, stammering. Momonga couldn't make out anything she said as she stumbled back several steps before her knees gave way and she collapsed on the floor.

Momonga had no idea what just happened. As someone who wasn't used to girls, someone who had never had a girlfriend, or any particular relationship with a woman, as a normal person, Lucifer's actions were nothing less than unbelievable. He couldn't even dream of being that forward with a girl or getting that kind of a reaction. All kinds of emotions bombarded him, jealousy, envy, anger, but after a few moments those all drained away and left him in a state of serene calm.

Herohero and Tigris Euphrates showed no reaction that Momonga could see, but Aura and Mare were watching the whole scene open mouthed. Momonga vaguely worried about their innocence. So far they had shown themselves to be like children in every sense. How should he explain what just happened?

Then he started wondering about Shalltear's sudden attraction in the first place. And if he could sweat he would undoubtedly do so now. 'We altered her programming so that she would love Lucifer-san, but if Shalltear reacted like that then what is going through Albedo's mind?'

Before Momonga could think on the subject any further, another new voice rang out. "Ah. I see. I am. Not. The last."

From the gates into the coliseum emerged a thoroughly inhuman creature. At a little more than eight feet tall, he towered over everyone but Tigris Euphrates. It looked like a mix between an ant and a praying mantis that walked on two feet, it had mandibles that could easily snap a man in half and its armor a pale blue-white and covered in spikes and icicles. It had a tail that was at least twice as long as its body, its back and shoulders resembled nothing more than the snapped off peak of an iceberg, and it held three weapons in its four hands. With its lower arms it held a mace emitting black light and a crooked broadsword while in its larger upper arms it held a brilliant silver halberd that seemed to freeze the air around it. When he set the butt of the halberd into the ground, the earth froze. The Guardian of the fifth floor, Cocytus.

Lucifer nodded. "Cocytus, it is good to see you in good spirits. I trust we didn't disrupt anything by ordering you down here?"

Cocytus exhaled a cloud of frozen air with every breath and more frost seemed to fall from every joint as he moved to join the other guardians. "An order. From. The Supreme Beings. Could. Never be. Considered a disruption. No matter. The time. Or the. Circumstances in. Which it was received."

Lucifer nodded again. "I see. It brings joy to my heart to see such loyalty."

"You. Honor. Me. Lucifer-sama."

The giant insect's presence instilled the entire area with primal cold comparable to the heat of the Primal Fire Elemental but nobody here paid it any mind. Every individual gathered here had at least some resistance to ice and cold.

Tigris Euphrates spoke up. "With the lack of intruders lately, you must have been getting bored."

Cocytus shook his massive head. "Even if. There are. No intruders. I never. Let up. On my preparations. I am. Always ready to. Defend my floor. For the glory. Of. The Supreme Beings."

Momonga leapt in before Tigris Euphrates could say something unwise. "It makes us very glad to hear you say that Cocytus."

Cocytus sucked in a breath of air before unleashing a massive burst of frozen particles. "All of. My. Hard work. Has been. Worth it. Just to. Hear. Those words. Momonga-sama."

A beat later he continued. "It seems. Albedo. And. Demiurge. Have arrived."

Just as Cocytus said, two more figures made their way through the gates and into the arena. The first was Albedo, looking just as she did an hour earlier. Accompanying her was a relatively tall man in a red suit and tie. His features had an Asian cast to them and his black hair was neatly combed. His eyes had a permanent squint to them behind the small round glasses perched on his nose. If it wasn't for the silver tail emerging from his back or the sense of menace that permeated his very being he might have been mistake for a lawyer or a businessman. He was Demiurge, the Guardian of the seventh floor and the commander of the NPC defenses.

Both Demiurge and Albedo bowed deeply to the four of them. "I seem to have made everyone wait, my sincerest apologies." Demiurge had a voice that was both deep and fascinating. Thanks to his skill [Domination Mantra] anyone under level forty who listened to his voice would be instantly captivated and forced to obey. For anyone above this limit all it did was make him pleasant to listen to, the same as Lucifer.

Demiurge took a quick glance around and continued. "It seems that we are two short. Neither Victim nor Gargantua is here. Shall I go and fetch them?"

Lucifer shook his head. "There's no point, those two never leave their posts. However we are waiting for a few more before we begin the meeting. In the meantime, Demiurge, I trust that the defenses are in proper order?"

Demiurge's bow deepened about an inch. "Nazarick stands ready to repel any and all intruders Lucifer-sama. Not one of the curs shall dirty the home of the Supreme Beings. I stake my life on it."

Albedo stepped in. "Before this meeting begins, I propose that we get the important things out of the way. Everyone, please offer your loyalty to the Supreme Beings."

With those words, the somewhat informal atmosphere evaporated. All the Guardians bowed their heads and quickly shuffled around to form a line.

Shalltear took a quick step forward, still red in the face, took a deep breath and said "Guardian of the first, second, and third floors of Nazarick, Shalltear Bloodfallen, has answered the summons of the Supreme Beings." She then took a knee, one hand pressed over her heart, head bowed.

Cocytus, the twins, Demiurge, and finally Albedo all stepped forward one after the other to offer homage. On one knee, Albedo intoned "With the exception of Gargantua, Guardian of the fourth floor, and Victim, Guardian of the eighth floor, all of the Floor Guardians have assembled to kneel down as ordered by the Supreme Beings. We would all pass through fire and ice for you without hesitation."

Momonga was speechless, his thoughts were in utter chaos. He was a chump salaryman, he wasn't used to being treated with anything close to this much respect and he was utterly clueless as to what he should do.

His thoughts were in such disarray that he accidentally activated a skill. A dark light emanated from him in his panic.

Herohero, Lucifer, and Tigris Euphrates all glanced at him and acted immediately. The faint glow that always clung to Lucifer expanded into a dome that engulfed everyone present. Tigris Euphrates seemed to burst into flame, tongues of flame licking down every inch of him. The air around Herohero took on something resembling a heat haze and the grass nearby him withered away and died.

Albedo stepped in before anyone could say anything. "Masters, it is only right to feel hesitation, since our strength pales in comparison to yours, but…." Albedo's smile faded away before a much more stern expression. "But make no mistake Masters, as long as you all order, no matter the difficulty of the task, all of us gathered here will go all out. Even if doing so meant our own destruction. We vowed to never shame the Forty One Supreme Creators of Ainz Ooal Gown."

"This I swear!"

The other Floor Guardians echoed in reply to Albedo's words. Momonga could not help but feel deeply moved at the strength and diamond hard determination that filled their faces and voices. He could not help but feel foolish that he ever doubted any of them. Momonga wore a winning smile, although his expression could not change due to the lack of flesh, the lights in his eyes became dazzlingly bright.

He glanced at his three companions, hoping to share this joy. Herohero couldn't be said to have anything resembling an expression, but he was sure that he felt the same way. Tigris Euphrates and Lucifer however, seemed unmoved. They both stared down at the assembled Guardians without any kind of expression that Momonga could identify. Lucifer briefly met his gaze, gave the briefest of nods, and took a step forward.

"Guardians, we have an announcement to make. As of several hours ago something happened to Nazarick. What precisely caused this event and the full effects of this event are currently beyond our knowledge. With this in mind, we must ask each of you, has anything unusual happened in your area of responsibility in the past several hours? You are free to speak."

"Nothing has happened on the seventh floor."

"Same goes for the sixth floor."

"W-what my sister said."

"The fifth floor is the same."

"From the first floor to the third, nothing unusual has happened."

"Supreme Masters, I would like to offer to check the fourth floor and the eighth floor without delay."

Lucifer shook his head before Momonga could say anything. "No, we'll do that ourselves. There's a chance you might miss something subtle."

Albedo deepened her bow as Shalltear spoke up. "Please allow me to take charge of the surface."

Tigris Euphrates rumbled "There's no need for that, Sebas and the Pleiades have already been sent to scout. They should be returning any moment."

The Guardians all showed expressions of surprise and shock at this. Sebas Tian was the strongest melee fighter outside of the eighth floor, and the Pleiades had a variety of abilities between them despite their relatively low levels. The deployment of such a force was seen as a gesture of extreme caution.

This was the point where the door to the arena opened once more to admit seven more people.

Sebas Tian and the six members of the Pleiades battle maids approached the group and took one knee. "I apologize for my lateness Momonga-sama."

The skeleton looked over to him and nodded. "It's alright Sebas, now please tell everyone here what you have learned of the outside."

"As you wish Momonga-sama. We inspected the surrounding two kilometers of land, and so far to the best of my knowledge we are currently in an area of lush grasslands without any remarkable features. There is no sign of any construction, nor are there any humans or large creatures."

Momonga had to make sure that there wasn't anything strange about the surroundings, he started looking for something familiar, something he was used to. "When you say grasslands, was it the kind where the grass is made up of sharp frozen blades that pierce you as you walk by?"

"No Momonga-sama, just ordinary grass."

"And there's no construction of any kind?"

"No Momonga-sama."

Tigris Euphrates joined the conversation. "Narberal Gamma, Lupusregina Beta, both of you can use the 'Flight' spell; I assume you took to the air to scout from above. Did you see anything other than what Sebas has said?"

The two named maids raised their heads, glanced at each other, and Narberal started speaking. "Yes Tigris Euphrates-sama. I flew as high into the air as I could to get a better view of our surroundings. The grasslands described by Sebas-sama extend for quite a distance, but in addition to that there are mountains to the north."

Lupusregina joined in, her voice low and abnormally solemn "There's also a big forest kind of close by, it seems to loop around south and then it goes west. It's really big, or at least it looked that way from where I could see it."

As Momonga started to think about where they might be, Tigris continued. "Solution Epsilon, Entoma Vasilissa Zeta, CZ2128 Delta you all have skills meant to detect things that others try to keep hidden. Have any of you discovered anything of note that has not been mentioned by Sebas or your sisters?"

"No Tigris Euphrates-sama"

"…Negative Tigris Euphrates-sama."

"I didn't see anything Tigris Euphrates-sama."

"I see."

Momonga was a bit frustrated with the lack of concrete information, although the tidbit about the mountains and forest was useful, he still couldn't guess where they might be, but he was fairly certain that they were no longer in YGGDRASIL. Looking around, he was sure that his companions felt the same way.

He figured that the best thing to do in this unknown situation would be to increase their security. If the land that they were occupying was under someone else's control then they would certainly be on their way here already. If that happened they had to be prepared.

"Guardians"

Every eye was immediately on him. "In this unknown situation, you are each to raise the security of your assigned floors. In the event that intruders enter Nazarick, they are to be captured alive, not killed, and you are not to harm them if possible. I am sorry to burden everyone with this during this unknown situation"

The Floor Guardians all bowed in acknowledgement of this order.

He turned to Albedo "Next, Albedo, I wish to understand precisely how this organization operates, how do the Floor Guardians exchange information during a situation like this?"

During the days of YGGDRASIL, each Guardian was in charge of their own floor and couldn't leave it. Nor were the AIs capable of exchanging information with one another. Momonga wanted to know how this might have changed.

Albedo raised her head to address him. "Each Guardian defends their floor according to their own judgment. However, Demiurge is in charge of the defenses so everyone shares their gathered information with him."

Momonga glanced to his friends. How was he doing? Okay? Was he screwing something up? Momonga didn't think he was but that didn't mean that he wasn't screwing up. But none of them seemed inclined to jump in, so Momonga took that as a hopeful sign.

"Okay, then as things stand Demiurge shall be in charge of the defenses and Albedo will lead the Guardians. Furthermore, Albedo, Demiurge, I want the two of you to design a more comprehensive management system. I want to be able to quickly and easily disseminate information to everyone significant in Nazarick at a moment's notice, understand?"

"Yes Momonga-sama, I trust that we aren't to include the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors in this planning correct?"

"That's right." Lucifer said.

"Understood Lucifer-sama."

Momonga looked at Lucifer, why would he not want the ninth and tenth floors included in the planning?

He wanted to ask, but now was not the time to do so, not with this audience. Rather than dwell on that, he decided to move on to the next idea.

"Aura, Mare… can you hide the Great Tomb of Nazarick with magic? With illusion magic… no, I don't think we could maintain an illusion large enough to hide all of Nazarick."

The twins looked at each other and thought about it for several moments before Mare spoke. "I don't think we'd be able to hide everything with illusions, n-not if you wanted to keep everything hidden all the time. But we could cover the walls with dirt and plants to hide them."

"You are saying that you would use mud to dirty The Great Tomb of Nazarick's walls?" Albedo's voice was calm, but chilling. Mare shivered. None of the other Guardians said anything, but they all looked like they agreed with Albedo.

Momonga acted quickly, before Tigris Euphrates or Lucifer could say anything. "Albedo, be quiet, I was talking to Mare."

"Yes Momonga-sama, I am extremely sorry." she quickly acquiesced and bowed her head low, her body tense with fear. The other Guardians, Sebas and the Pleiades included, all went still as though the order was meant for them as well.

Momonga turned back to the issue at hand. "Mare, you think you could hide everything with this? Wouldn't it look unnatural? Sebas, Pleiades, are there any hills in the area?"

"No Momonga-sama." They all echoed.

Sebas continued "However, Momonga-sama, there is a night cycle here. So at night it might fool others."

The skeleton briefly considered his options and said "Well, if we're just trying to hide the wall's Mare's idea might work, do you think we could make hills and dirt mounds to conceal the walls further?"

Mare immediately responded. "That should help to hide everything."

That was when Lucifer stepped in. "No, I don't think this is a good idea."

Everyone immediately looked at him, Momonga included. "You don't think this would work Lucifer-san?"

Lucifer shook his head. "No, we should try to avoid any disruption to the surrounding landscape. We're trying to hide ourselves here, yes? It might work to hide this place from someone just passing through for the first time, but we don't have enough information to make any kind of guess as to what we'll encounter here. Anyone or anything familiar with this area would notice a bunch of hills appearing out of nowhere one day, if anything it would be more obvious than a tomb. There are other considerations too."

He took a breath and continued. "According to Sebastian, there are no signs of humans or any other civilization. But that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Momonga, you're worried about the possibility that someone owns this land, right? And that they might already be on their way here, yes?"

The Guardians tensed as his words, at the possibility of incoming enemies. Momonga tentatively nodded and Lucifer continued on "If that's the case, then they likely already know where we are and trying to hide is pointless. If not, it's possible that using large scale magic to alter things could set off some kind of sensor that would alert such individuals to our presence here. Or otherwise gain attention that we'd rather avoid. For example, there's no guarantee that there are any humans at all here, the Great Tomb of Nazarick may very well be directly on top of a kingdom of Mole men, or there could be nothing at all out there. For all we know, we could literally be the only sentient things in this world and we'll never find anything capable of even having a conversation outside of this Tomb. We don't know enough to say anything in any case, nor support even the flimsiest of assumptions. With that said, we should try towards the subtle and the least obtrusive. We should go with illusion magic."

Momonga appreciated the insight, he brought up a number of points that Momonga himself never considered, or never wanted to consider, but he had to point out the flaw. "But, Lucifer-san, we don't have enough spell casters with illusion abilities to hide Nazarick."

"Incorrect Momonga, we don't have what we need to hide Nazarick at all times. There's a difference."

Momonga wasn't sure where he was going with this, but he didn't say anything, hoping he would continue on his own.

Momonga got his wish. Lucifer continued on "We can't maintain illusions of that scale indefinitely, but we could manage it for several hours at a time. I propose that we immediately begin scouting the surrounding area. We have to get well acquainted with the ground we will be defending. We determine lines of sight to Nazarick from every direction, as well as search for any sign of regular occupation or travel, roads, anything. Then we place watchers with stealth capabilities well away from Nazarick, far enough that they're at least half an hour away from even seeing Nazarick, to keep an eye out for anyone who might get too close. We give them each a 'Message' scroll. Upon sighting anything unsavory the watchers can use the scroll to warn us, and we can have our spell casters place illusions over wherever the interloper might see. If the watcher reports that there's someone in the northwest, heading south, we cast illusions to cover the north, west, and south to ensure that he doesn't see anything as he passes by. Then a watcher farther south reports that he's gone, we're all clear, and we drop the illusion to save mana. The issue would be anything that can fly, but we have spell casters and mana enough to place an illusion over the top of the Tomb twenty four hours a day and still maintain this system."

"Overall, I think that this is best. It may be pointless, and if we run into anything that can just see through illusions the jig is up, but we run that risk anyway. It's more work, but it should be far less obvious that we're trying to hide something rather than just erecting a bunch of hills. What do you all think?"

Momonga was taken aback by the idea, but as he thought it over he concluded that it had merit. There were issues, like Lucifer said anything that could see through illusions would spot them. But if they went with Mare's hill plan they'd still have to rely on illusions to protect their roof from sight so they were running the same risk either way.

The Guardians wasted no time on praising the idea. "As expected from one of the Supreme Beings, a superb idea." "I-I suppose that makes more sense than the hills." "You see Mare, you shouldn't be thinking about stuff like dirtying Nazarick's walls, you have to think things through." "A. Splendid. Idea. Lucifer-sama." "A flawless plan, I think I'm falling in love all over again."

Momonga glanced over to his allies. "Tigris Euphrates-san? Herohero-san?"

Tigris nodded. "I think that would be for the best."

Herohero made no motion but his voice was heard by everyone present. "No objections."

Lucifer nodded and pointed to Demiurge. "Okay then, Demiurge, you'll be in charge of scouting the surface and putting this into motion, understood?"

"Certainly Lucifer-sama, I shall ensure that everything meets your expectations."

"Good, then there's no point wasting time, everyone get to your posts and get started on your assigned tasks."

Momonga interrupted as the Guardians started to get to their feet. "Wait."

The Guardians froze.

"Before we adjourn today, I wish to ask a question. What do you, the Floor Guardians, think of the four of us?"

Shalltear glanced around before stating "Supreme Beings, unmatched in any way, in power, in ability… in beauty." Shalltear not so covertly glanced at Lucifer as she said this.

"Cocytus"

"Unmatched. In. Power. The. Supreme Rulers. Of. All. Of. Nazarick."

"Aura"

"Strong and wise, strict, and fair."

"Mare"

"T-the Supreme Rulers of Nazarick, without equal n-no matter where you look."

"Demiurge"

"In possession of both wisdom and swift action. Flawless beings without compare."

"Sebas"

"The compassionate masters who refused to abandon us, those who stayed behind to fight alongside us."

"…Albedo"

Albedo raised her head, looked directly at Momonga, and smiled. "Our absolute rulers, our supreme masters, and among them is my most beloved person."

If Momonga could swallow, he would. There seemed to be something lodged in his throat.

"…I see. I understand. The four of us shall discuss things further and give orders as we see fit. Until then, see to your assigned tasks."

As the Guardians bowed their heads, the four Supreme Beings vanished.

XXXXXXXXX

The pressures that kept everyone present kneeled to the ground vanished, but nobody moved for several long moments. Then, finally, someone sighed and the tension in the air dispersed. Everyone started getting to their feet.

"S-sister, that was scary."

"Yeah, I wasn't sure what would happen first, would I get crushed, burned, dissolved, obliterated, anything could have happened."

"As. Expected of. The Supreme Beings. Even towards. Their. Strongest servants. They. Would. Have an. Overwhelming. Effect."

"Although I knew that they were the Supreme Beings and therefore stronger than all of us I did not expect it would be to such an overwhelming degree.

The Pleiades got to their feet and stood off to one side rather than engage in conversation. They wouldn't dare speak out of turn in this meeting of their superiors, despite their feelings about the situation. The Guardians mostly ignored them as they discussed the effects the four had on them.

This would be due to the Auras that each of the four gave off. Momonga started it, and the other three responded with skills that would protect them from the effects of Momonga's skill.

Each of the guild members of Ainz Ooal Gown were stronger when within the Great Tomb of Nazarick, so the effects were enhanced beyond normal and the Floor Guardians got the full blast of all of them.

"That. Was. The. Supreme Beings. Displaying. Their. Prowess. As. Our rulers."

"Indeed, in response to our loyalty, they will show a true ruler's power."

"Yes."

Aura jumped in. "Momonga-sama and Tigris Euphrates-sama never let out their auras when they were together with us. Although Tigris Euphrates-sama was pretty scary after Mare made him mad."

Everyone glanced over at that. Cocytus inquired "You. Did. Something. To anger. Tigris Euphrates-sama?"

Mare quailed at all the sudden attention, none of it positive, and Aura did nothing to help. "Yeah, he loitered around at the top of the arena rather than jump down like I did. He made Momonga-sama and Tigris Euphrates-sama wait before finally jumping down. Man oh man, they did not like that."

"S-sis…."

Albedo shook her head. "We should expect nothing less of the Supreme Beings. They are our creators, and they clearly have the highest of standards. We must do our utmost to meet those expectations as best we can. We must not disappoint them."

Demiurge agreed. "The worst possible crime is to disappoint our creators. Of forty one, only four remain. We must ensure that we encourage them to stay."

A strange silence encompassed the entire group as these words were heard and understood. Out of everyone here, only two members of the Pleiades had avoided the dreadful feeling of having their own personal creator leave the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Amongst the Guardians gathered on the sixth floor, it was a pain they all shared equally.

It was Sebas who broke the silence. "I shall take my leave. Although I do not know where the Supreme Beings went, it is my duty to remain by their side and to assist them however I am able."

Albedo's face was the picture of envy, but her voice was calm as she answered. "Very well Sebas, serve them ably and do not disrespect them. If any situation arises, report back to me immediately. Especially if Momonga-sama calls for me. If that happens, drop everything and tell me immediately!"

"Of course."

Everyone stared at Albedo as she continued on. "If Momonga-sama calls me to his bedroom, inform him that I'll need a little time to prepare myself, although if he demands that I report to him immediately I'll go without hesitation. I always keep my body in top condition, and wear only the best clothes so that I can answer Momonga-sama's call immediately. In short I put the highest priority on-"

"Yes, yes Albedo, I understand. However I must take my leave, waiting any longer would be an insult to the Supreme Beings. Good evening ladies and gentlemen."

Sebas turned on one heel and made his way out of the arena, the Pleiades following behind him.

"It's kind of quiet. What happened to you Shalltear?"

After hearing Demiurge, the other Guardians realized that Shalltear was still on the floor.

The girl slowly lifted her head to look at the others. Her eyes were misty, and her face was flushed as she answered "After feeling all of that, after everything that happened, I couldn't help but get… excited."

Demiurge just put a hand to his forehead, and the other Guardians showed similar expressions of distaste. Mare was the only one that seemed unaware of precisely what Shalltear was talking about.

Albedo was having none of it. She glared down at the girl, full of jealousy and anger. "This slut."

Shalltear just smiled. "Ah, such a shame. Feeling Lucifer-sama's light was like feeling his arms wrapped around me. Tigris Euphrates-sama's heat, Momonga-sama's overwhelming pressure, Herohero-sama's all devouring gaze. Who could feel all of that and not get excited? It's the ones who didn't get wet that have the problem. Are you actually trying to pretend that you didn't feel any lust, you big mouthed gorilla?"

"You oversized lamprey, Momonga-sama's mere presence brings me the greatest joy."

"Momonga-sama is beautiful and powerful, yes, but he can't compare with Lucifer-sama's passion."

"Ha, give me fine control and a powerful mind rather than blind passion any day. Momonga-sama is better."

"Oh really, well without passion you'll never get anywhere. Lucifer-sama actually kissed me, how close have you gotten with Momonga-sama?"

Albedo froze at those words. "L-Lucifer-sama _kissed_ you!?"

Aura scratched her head. "Yeah, he did. It was a peck on the cheek."

Shalltear rose to her feet, hands on her hips and looked unbearably smug. "Don't worry Albedo, feel free to lust after Momonga-sama forever, your feelings never to be returned. I'll be quite happy with Lucifer-sama while you're forever alone."

Albedo's wings unfurled as she took several steps forward. Shalltear's hands were wreathed in black mist as she went forward to meet her.

Demiurge just turned and started walking away, Mare and Cocytus beside him. Leaving Aura behind.

"H-hey! You can't leave me here with these two!"

Demiurge turned his head to look at her, but he didn't stop walking. "Problems between women should be dealt with by women. If anything happens, I'll stop it, but don't bother me about it until that happens."

"Wait a minute, you can't just leave this nonsense to me!"

The three male Guardians ignored her and kept walking. None of them wanted to be involved in that.

"Still. Is there. Any. Need. To quarrel?"

"I myself am quite interested in the results."

"What results Demiurge?"

Demiurge just smiled. "The results that will determine the future of the Great Tomb of Nazarick."

"U-um, I'm not sure what you mean."

Demiurge thought about how he should respond to that, whether or not to bestow adult wisdom upon the naïve dark elf, but he decided against it.

Demiurge explained. "Great rulers require heirs, yes? Even though Momonga-sama, Herohero-sama, Tigris Euphrates-sama, and Lucifer-sama stayed until the end, that doesn't mean that they won't lose interest in us one day and leave like the others. If that happens, it is imperative that they leave behind an heir for us to serve."

"O-okay, but who is the heir to the Supreme Beings?"

"That is. Disrespectful. It is. Our duty. To protect. The Supreme Beings. So that. They. May stay. Correct?"

Demiurge answered him. "I understand Cocytus, however wouldn't you want one or more of the Supreme Beings to leave heirs behind for us to pledge loyalty to?"

"Well… I would. Love. To. Pledge my. Loyalty. To their. Heirs." Cocytus couldn't help but imagine the possibilities, of training the children of their masters, giving rise to great warriors that he could eternally serve. For Cocytus, this was a wonderful dream.

Demiurge proceeded to ignore the giant insect rather than disturb his fantasy. He continued talking to Mare. "I'm also quite interested in the plans to strengthen Nazarick. I can't help but wonder how far our children could go. How about it Mare, want to have children?"

"H-huh?"

"Well, we can't manage that without a partner. So if you find any humans, dark elves, or wood elves, you'll have to capture them."

"Eh? U-umm. If it helps the Supreme Beings then I'll do it. B-but, how are children born?"

Demiurge smiled. "When it comes time for that, I'll teach you. You probably shouldn't try experimenting on your own, the Supreme Beings will probably scold you. It's important to maintain the Great Tomb of Nazarick's operating costs, so for now we should do our best to maintain the current balance."

"R-right, I heard th-that the servants are spawned using very precise calculations. I don't want to disrupt that, or I'll get scolded by the masters."

"I too do not wish to incur the wrath of any one of them. So we'll have to table this idea for now. Unless, perhaps we can set up some kind of ranch outside of Nazarick…."

While he was thinking about that, he asked a question that nobody ever asked Mare before. "By the way, why are you dressed like a girl?"

"Huh? This?" Mare plucked at his skirt and tried to get it to cover more than it did. "It was Bukubuku-chagama-sama's idea. She said it was called 'a trap'."

"Ah, so it was Bukubuku-chagama-sama's idea? Well, with the way you look it shouldn't be a problem, but do children normally dress like this?"

"I-I'm not too sure."

The most important thing was the decision of the forty one creators. By that metric, Mare's current attire was the only proper mode of dress."

"We will have to talk to the Supreme Beings about this. Should we have all children dressed like that? Also, Cocytus should be about done with his fantasies."

Cocytus was showing a broad smile, or at least as close to one as he could manage. "What. A beautiful. Scene. Truly. A. Wonderful. Sight."

"I see, that's wonderful. Are Albedo and Shalltear still arguing?"

Aura caught up with the group, looking haggard. "Yes. They keep bringing up points to compare Lucifer-sama and Momonga-sama."

"I see. I don't see how either side could hope to win that argument. It would be easier if they were arguing over the same one, then they could just share." It would be absurd for any of the Supreme Beings to have just a single concubine after all.

Ignoring the two arguing women, the four of them quickly left the arena to get started on their assigned tasks. If Albedo wanted to clarify anything later, they'd talk to her then. Nobody really wanted to bother her right now.

And, as the four left, the invisible figure that had been watching everything vanished.

XXXXXXXXX

Momonga appeared in the round table room on the ninth floor, the same place where they were talking before all of this craziness started. In moments Herohero and Lucifer had joined him.

The stress of the entire situation made him feel tired, even if he could not feel fatigue. "The Guardians, why do they evaluate us so highly?"

Lucifer moved over to one of the chairs and took a seat, his wings vanishing as he did so. "I'd say it's pretty obvious. If you can't figure it out, I won't tell you. Anyway, sit down both of you. We have a _lot_ to talk about. First thing, where's Tigris?"

Momonga looked around and realized that Tigris Euphrates wasn't there.

Lucifer sighed. "Hang on, I'll get him. [Message]."

"Hello? Tigris Euphrates? Helllo~? Answer me you hick, it's a phone or close enough. You should know at least enough to manage that."

He sat there for another minute or so before shrugging. "I guess not. When you feel like rejoining the world Tigris, pick up the phone and call 1-800-Daystar."

Lucifer leaned back in his chair. "So either he's doing something really important and stealthy that means he can't spare a moment to talk, or he's off playing with himself. It could honestly be either one. So let's get this meeting started. Either of you notice something distinctly odd throughout that whole little meet n' greet?"

Momonga thought about it for a second. There was more odd stuff than 'normal' stuff depending on what you might call normal. "You mean Shalltear's behavior?"

"That's one thing, yes. You might also have noticed what Albedo said near the end there about a 'most beloved person'. We can safely assume that the NPCs are based on their personality programming."

Momonga groaned and put his head in his hands. "I can't believe we did that. How am I going to face Tabula Smaragdina-san now? How are you going to face Peroroncino-san? Speaking of which" He looked up to look at Lucifer "That was rather forward of you to act with Shalltear, don't you have any shame?"

Lucifer shrugged. "Not really. I was pretty sure that she'd do something like that and as for how I can actually pull it off, it's called a way with women Momonga. We're not all virgins like you, you have to know how to talk a woman out of her clothes before you can get anywhere."

Herohero spoke up "Honestly, with you I thought it normally involved payment Lucifer-san."

The blonde just shrugged. "Whatever gets the job done. Money works, but it's cheaper to just use my silver tongue. There's a joke there, but it's beneath me."

Momonga just shook his head. "So what are you going to do with Shalltear?"

"I think the better question is what am I _not_ going to do with Shalltear. You both saw her settings. About a third of what that kid programmed into her disgusts me, but the other two thirds, well I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel like giving it a try."

Momonga glared at him. "How can you do something like that?!"

Lucifer looked him right in the eye, unfazed. "Are you seriously asking me that question? Do I have to give a remedial Sex Ed class?"

Momonga just put his head in his hands. "That's not what I meant. I mean, what are you going to say to Peroroncino?"

"Honestly I kind of doubt that's ever going to be an issue. But if he wants to say something about it he's free to come down here and tell it to me. Tabula Smaragdina is free to show up and tell you what he thinks of all of this. Until that happens, I'm not worried about it. By the way, you were pretty quiet throughout everything Herohero. You got nothing to add?"

The slime looked from Momonga to Lucifer and his voice was heard in their heads again. "Honestly, I had no idea what to say or do. I've never been in that kind of situation before."

"What with all the bowing, scraping, and kneeling? I don't think anyone any of us has ever met has been in that situation before. Unless maybe one of you two know a priest or a prince."

"No, I mean with all the… respect."

"Ah, well I can at least say that I've been there before. I see you two haven't."

Momonga finally calmed down, just as he always seemed to suddenly calm down. But some amount of irritation remained within him. "That's not important. The big question is what we're going to do now."

Lucifer rested his head in one hand. "You're right, that is a big question. But I've been deliberately stalling since we can't really answer that without Tigris Euphrates. Who should, in theory, be here at some point. He certainly knows that we're here. By the way, why did you activate the Desperation Aura?"

Momonga cringed at the sudden question. "I-I didn't really mean to do that. It was all so much, so fast, I didn't know what to do, and I just sort of did it by accident. What was with that nod before you jumped in and started talking to the Guardians?"

Lucifer gave a lazy shrug. "Well, first I thought that you making eye contact was some kind of a signal. You certainly seemed helpless enough to be giving one. Second reason was to prevent you from giving some stupid speech like what you imagine a chairman would say. We were doing pretty well there, I didn't want you to say something stupid and get us laughed out of the room."

Tigris Euphrates chose that moment to teleport into the room. He sighed and sat down in short order.

Lucifer looked over. "Took you long enough. We were talking about virginity, so are you one or not."

Tigris gave Lucifer the evil eye. "Of course not, what does that matter now?"

Lucifer just smiled. "Oh nothing, looks like you're alone Momonga. Clutch that V-card tight."

Momonga decided that it was high time that Lucifer was ignored. He turned to their most recent arrival. "Where were you Tigris Euphrates-san?"

He watched as Tigris got comfortable, took a deep breath and said "You know when you three teleported out? When you guys did that, I used 'Perfect Invisibility' and watched them for a while. I wanted to get a feel for what they were like without us hovering over them you know?"

Herohero leaned forward. "And?"

Tigris shrugged. "They're crazy. Albedo and Shalltear got into an argument about who was better, Momonga-san or Lucifer-san, Cocytus mentioned wanting to train our children into great warriors, that was about the gist of it. I should mention, for your sakes' that Albedo and Shalltear are both crazy."

Lucifer snorted. "They're female Tigris, that's synonymous with nuts. Anyway, you're here, now we can actually get started. First issue, what the hell do we do now? Which I think can be well started with a question. Do we want to go home? Tigris Euphrates, your opinion is the only real unknown here so please give us your thoughts."

Momonga looked up at that. "What do you mean his opinion is the only one that matters? What about me or Herohero-san?"

Lucifer looked over at Momonga with a look that he couldn't quite identify. "Do you really need to ask Momonga? You and Herohero, your choices are already made. I know what your life was like before this, and how much bitching did Herohero do before this started? Are you seriously going to look me in the eye and tell me that you're going to go back to a dead-end day job with hardly any education and no future? Is Herohero going to go back to a company that treated him as all but a slave? Quit joking around, for you two this is probably the best thing that possibly could have happened. Regardless of how this turns out, this is without a doubt the greatest opportunity for anything that you two are ever going to have. I don't think either of you are quite dumb enough to turn it down. So I ask Tigris Euphrates, because his opinion is the only one I'm not sure about."

Tigris stared down at his folded hands, not saying a word.

He stayed that way for a long time, and nobody else said a word, waiting for his decision.

Finally, after what seemed to be an age, he finally said, quietly "I think I'd prefer to stay."

Lucifer nodded. "Uh huh, I thought so. Just so we're clear though, why?"

Tigris shrugged. "Well, I'm not leaving much behind. A girlfriend. But there are other fish in the sea. What do I have to look forward to if I go back that I can't get here? I'm having kind of a hard time to come up with anything that I'd seriously miss. Plus I can SEE. My eyes were always bad, hell once, my doctor actually took pictures to use in a textbook he was writing they were so bad. Just being able to look at something and SEE it is an amazing incentive as it is. How about you Lucifer-san? Don't you have a kid?"

Lucifer nodded. "I have a son yes. But he's a grown man, he doesn't really need me to look out for him. Aside from that, nothing really permanent. Friends, sure, but I think if I laid out this whole situation they'd probably tell me to go. I'm semi-retired as it is, all I really do is play poker and YGGDRASIL these days. So while I'm leaving stuff behind, I don't think it really compares to what I stand to gain. They'll be sad sure, but that was going to happen anyway sooner or later."

Herohero quietly chipped in. "Then we're unanimous, we're staying here. Through thick or thin. But I have to ask, what if we're all just having some kind of shared hallucination due to an equipment malfunction? We're here having this conversation but our bodies are all in comas or something. How do we know any of this is real?"

Lucifer looked over at Herohero. "We'll know that for sure within a month."

Momonga looked over. "What's so special about a month Lucifer-san?"

Lucifer was quiet for a moment, considering the table. Then he spoke "I have always made it clear, to my son, to my friends, to my lawyer, to anybody who might be asked the question, that if I was ever permanently incapacitated, if I was ever put into some kind of a coma from which I could not recover, I told them to just pull the plug. If we're seriously in some kind of a coma, they know my wishes. I refuse to cling to life in such a pathetic state. I give it a month for the doctors to examine everything, to run tests, to come to the conclusion that I can't be saved. Plus time for my son to come to terms with everything and tell the doctors to do it. So, if we're seriously in some kind of shared coma dream, you'll know. If I don't suddenly drop dead within the next four or five weeks, then this is probably real. As insane as that may seem."

That just stunned the entire room into silence. Momonga couldn't think of, couldn't even imagine doing something like that.

Lucifer continued on rather than let the silence build. "Okay, so… if we're doing this then we're doing it right. If we're going to be in charge then we're going to be in charge. Here's my proposal, there are four of us and four things that need doing. First thing is exploring the outside, I propose that Tigris Euphrates lead Aura and Mare in this task. We have to know what's out there. Second is the defense of Nazarick. I'll work with Demiurge and handle that. Third, we have to be able to know what's actually happening with this place. I propose that Herohero work with Albedo in her duties as the Overseer of the Guardians. Learn what she does and ensure that you can do the same if you have to. Fourth, we have to know what's the same and what's different. I've already encountered at least one spell that didn't work nearly the same as it did in YGGDRASIL. What else is different? We have to know. So I propose that Momonga figure that out. Aye or Nay?"

Tigris immediately voted in the affirmative, Herohero did too, before Momonga could even consider a course of action.

Lucifer nodded. "Motion passed."

Momonga couldn't just let things continue on. "Hang on, Lucifer-san. The way you put that, it's almost like you want us to ensure that we can do the jobs the NPCs are doing now."

Lucifer looked at Momonga for a long moment and sighed. "That's exactly what I'm doing Momonga. Do you want to know how you know you're in charge?"

Momonga hesitated for a moment, then nodded and Lucifer continued on. "You know you're in charge when you can look into a room full of employees and know in your heart that if you needed to you could do any of their jobs at least as well as they can. If you don't, then how are you supposed to know whether they're doing a good job or not? We have to take the possibility of betrayal into account here."

"Lucifer-san, after seeing everything in the arena, I don't think we have to worry about betrayal."

"Maybe not right now Momonga, but what about in the future? Who knows, one day they may change their minds. If that happens, we'll have no choice but to put them down. If that happens, we need to be ready and able to take care of the duties that they will leave behind. So part of the current goals is to find out who does what and ensure we know enough about it to be sure that we can take care of it on our own if we have to."

Lucifer leaned forward, his elbows on the table, hands clasped. "So, now that we're on the topic. Let's talk about the NPCs, their personalities, what makes them tick. I think some are going to be more inclined toward betrayal than others. So let's have a talk about who we think we have to look out for."

"And then, let's start talking about countermeasures."

XXXXXXXXX

And that's it, it's done. Chapter three ladies and gentlemen. This is without a doubt the largest chapter I've ever made, by a lot. So I hope you all enjoyed it. It fought me every step of the way.

So, here's the next piece of Overlord lore.

DEATH

In YGGDRASIL, death is something to be feared. It's quite obnoxious. Every time you die, you lose five levels and drop a piece of equipment. If an NPC or other game character is brought below level one in this way, the character is deleted. Player characters however, are special. No matter how many times they die, they never get brought below level one. They don't have to fear their character getting deleted. It's possible to respawn at a town, or at a guildhall automatically upon death. The point of resurrection magic is that it brings someone back without losing the item, and with a reduced EXP loss. But that was in YGGDRASIL, who knows how things work now.

Next up, the character sheet. I'm going to put one down of a character the featured prominently this chapter. For those who haven't read the LN or browsed the wiki. Also, I suppose it should be mentioned that in all of the stats, the normal maximum is a hundred.

 **SHALLTEAR BLOODFALLEN**

 **The Bloody Valkyrie**

 **Alignment-** -450 – Great~Extremely Evil

 **Job-** Guardian of the First, Second, and Third Floors of the Great Tomb of Nazarick

 **Residence-** Great Tomb of Nazarick, Second Floor, Burial Chamber

 **Racial Level- 20**

Vampire Lv.10

True Vampire Lv.10

 **Job Level- 80**

Valkyrie: Lance Lv.5

Cursed Knight Lv.5

Cleric Lv.10

Blood Drinker Lv.?

Others

 **HP:** 89

 **MP:** 77

 **Phys. Atk:** 88

 **Phys. Def:** 85

 **Agility:** 70

 **Mag. Atk:** 84

 **Mag. Def:** 69

 **Resistance:** 84

 **Special Ability:** 86

 **Total:** 732

Yes, I'm sure that everyone wants to see what I've got for Herohero, Tigris Euphrates, and Lucifer but I'm afraid that you'll have to be patient. Look on the bright side, you get to have more fun guessing who's what and who has what. Enjoy. Please review and tell me what you thought of everything so far, and I'll see you in the next chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

Here we are at chapter four, at long last.

And along with that comes an issue that I've been chewing on. Where the hell is the Great Tomb of Nazarick? To many, this question won't mean much, but to those who really pay close attention you'll notice that it's kind of impossible to point to a spot on the map and say 'here it is'. There's a map of the New World available on the wiki, and it doesn't show the Tomb. And if you go by the descriptions in the Light Novel, you'll find at least four different descriptions about where to find it. And all of them contradict each other. So, with that in mind, I'm going with the one that I think is the most likely actual location. It's North of the Great Forest, South of the Azerlisia Mountains, and East of the Wetlands. Could it be wrong? Sure, but I don't care, that's where it is, I'm done combing over the map and a half dozen different descriptions. Moving on.

XXXXXXXXX

Chapter 4

XXXXXXXXX

The meeting ended after several hours of discussion on numerous issues. Between the four of them they came up with dozens of things that had to be checked, numerous things that had to be done. On occasion one or more of them had teleported elsewhere to check minor details and collect data points from among the NPCs, confirming certain needs that must be met, identifying issues that had to be addressed now or in the future. Tigris wasn't entirely sure how long the meeting went on, but it surely lasted hours. But, finally, the four of them had hammered out a rough plan on how to begin their exploration of this new world.

Momonga wanted to be cautious, to wait, hide, and thoroughly scout everything before doing anything remotely concrete, but he got voted down. Lucifer and, strangely, Herohero both advocated for swifter action. The sooner they knew what they were in for, the sooner they could figure out what to do. The two of them had managed to get Tigris himself to eventually agree with them on this point, if anything was watching or if anyone detected their arrival then there was no point in hiding. It would be better to scout things out and find where they stand. If the natives showed up at the doorstep tomorrow then they had to know what they were in for rather than wait to get taken by surprise. Momonga, upon being faced with his allies in unanimous agreement, backed down. There was certainly more risk, and they would take measures to reduce that risk as much as possible before committing, but there was more risk in remaining ignorant. They couldn't just hide in the Tomb forever.

So they set out on their first orders of business, securing the surrounding area and making preparations for an expedition outside of the Tomb.

Tigris Euphrates watched as Momonga, Herohero, and Lucifer all teleported to other parts of the Tomb to get started on what they agreed to do. Tigris himself preferred to walk. It gave him some small amount of time to take everything in. He had the least to do tonight, but he had a busy day tomorrow.

He trudged out of the Round Table room and down the marble hall with a distinct listlessness about him. He lacked the animated nature that his friends were used to seeing from him. It had been perhaps six or seven hours since the YGGDRASIL server shut down, and before that he had had a full day of work as a human and a late night. He felt exhausted. But as much as he might desire rest there was still so much to do, and so little time to do it in.

'Momonga, Lucifer, Herohero, I envy all of you. Why am I the only one among us who has a character that requires sleep?'

Sure, there were items that helped with physical exhaustion, but most of them were meant to prevent it rather than cure it. The ones that would help in this situation would do plenty more in addition to reinvigoration and were too valuable to use so casually. That was one of the things that they had decided in their first meeting. Until they knew what was going on, until they had this place figured out, anything and everything within the Great Tomb of Nazarick had to be considered irreplaceable.

'It isn't worth it to use an item for this; I'll just sleep and change out my equipment tomorrow so I don't need any further rest. Still, I suppose I should treasure this, after tonight I won't be getting much sleep if I'm using items. Instead I'll probably be working all night like those three are.'

But before he could hit the hay, he had at least one important task to take care of. More than one, really, but he would settle for the most important one.

There wasn't a great distance between the Round Table room and the personal chambers of the guild members. Before long he had arrived at his own personal quarters. To his surprise, he wasn't alone. A maid stood ready next to the door.

She was pretty, all of the maids were. Her long blonde hair was neatly cut and a pair of glasses perched upon her nose, giving her a more sophisticated and intellectual air, she bowed low at the waist and gestured to the door the moment she saw him. "Good evening Tigris Euphrates-sama. I have had the honor of preparing your room for your use. If there is anything else that you desire you need only give the command and I will do everything in my power to see that it is done."

Tigris looked down at the tiny maid, well, tiny compared to him. He had never really paid much attention to the maids before now. They were like background noise, or pieces of furniture. They were just there, no need to bother with them. But now it seemed that even they had attained the same… life… that the NPCs now enjoyed. It truly seemed that the only things that hadn't come to life were the golems.

He spent a few moments, simply looking at her from on high. The maid paid no mind, maintaining her bow with perfect poise and acting as though she would have no trouble staying that way all night if she had to. Finally, he spoke. "I'm afraid that I don't remember your name, could you remind me?"

Tigris couldn't really say, he was looking down on her and her face was looking towards the floor but he thought she smiled. "I'm not surprised that one of the Supreme Beings does not remember one as meager as I. My name is Lumiere, made by the Supreme Being Coup de Grace-sama."

The red giant nodded, sluggish and tired. He shook his head to try to drive off sleep for a little while longer. "Okay, listen. I need you to fetch Lupusregina Beta of the Pleiades and bring her here. Do you understand?"

Lumiere's wasted no time with her reply. "Yes Tigris Euphrates-sama, I will fetch Lupusregina-san immediately. Shall I go now?"

Tigris muttered a quick affirmation and Lumiere's bow deepened another inch. "Then by your leave Master."

He watched as she rose, turned, and hurried down the hallway, paying attention as best he could to her movements.

She was graceful, even as she hurried she never kicked the hem of her dress accidentally and she almost seemed to glide rather than walk.

Tigris shook his head again and rubbed at his eyes. 'This is no time to be distracted, I have to prepare myself. I have to get this done, and get things ready for tomorrow.'

He shrank himself down to about six feet tall and stepped inside his room.

Every member of Ainz Ooal Gown had their own set of rooms on the ninth floor, although each individual suite was more like a decently sized house than a hotel suite. Tigris glanced around; it had been quite a while since he had last set foot in here. He was too tired to admire the décor, the sprawling carpets and divans of various sizes, the candles with their unusual perfumes and fragrances, the rich woods engraved and embellished with precious metals. He was standing in the presence of more wealth than he had ever encountered back home, back on earth, but he didn't care. He was far more interested in what lay deeper in, he remembered the massive bed surrounded by embroidered silken curtains and he could feel that delightful piece of furniture calling to him.

Much to his displeasure, he could not answer sleep's siren song quite yet. He sat down on one of the divans scattered around the foyer, trying hard to ignore how pleasantly soft it was, and reached into his inventory to pull out a book roughly the size of a dictionary.

The Game Encyclopedia was one of the very few things that a player was given at the start of the game. Generally speaking, YGGDRASIL was a game about discovering new things so information given to the player was kept at a minimum. Even information about how things worked was deliberately left out. It was up to the players to find that out for themselves. The only instructions that came with the game were about how to properly install and run the game. The only things you were given at the start were a hundred gold coins, a set of low level equipment that suited your chosen race and class, and the Game Encyclopedia. It acted as a player's journal, automatically recording things about the game that the player encountered. One could also add their personal notes to the pages; indeed this was required since even the automatically recorded information was fairly scanty. It also held the distinction of being the only item in the entire game that could not be stolen by any means. Tigris had played the game for a long time, his Encyclopedia was somewhere between the size of 'War and Peace' and a phone book.

Tigris flipped through the pages, dully recalling forgotten facts. In the last three years he had logged-in perhaps twenty times, in the last two years he could count the number of log-ins on one hand. And even when he did log in he hadn't seriously played the game. He dicked around in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, he talked with his fellow guild members, and in more recent times he had worked together with Momonga to slaughter some pushover level eighty dungeons for treasure to keep everything running. It had been a long time since he had been a part of anything… strenuous. He hadn't engaged in serious PvP or faced any kind of serious challenge in… longer than he cared to remember.

Today's events had taught him that he had a lot to catch up on. He had to reacquaint himself with YGGDRASIL, remember his old tricks and tactics. His survival, perhaps everyone's survival, depended on it.

And, in addition to that, there were certain monster entries that he wanted to brush up on….

It was only about twenty minutes later that he heard a soft knocking on the door.

Tigris glanced up, suppressing at yawn as he gave permission to enter.

The door opened, and a girl quickly stepped in and closed the door behind her.

Well, it wasn't quite correct to call her a girl if one was judging by her figure. She stood at around 5'7, her eyes were a warm golden amber, her skin was a healthy brown, and her long red hair was secured into two braids that reached her waist. She wore a maid uniform distinct from the identical sets used by the Homunculi, with long black gloves covering her arms from wrist to elbow, leaving her fingers bare, a long slit up one side of the skirt gave the occasional glimpse of luscious leg covered in long white stockings, and topped by a cap upon her head that resembled cat ears and adorned with a golden star.

This Cleric was one of the relatively few NPCs that he had personally created, Lupusregina Beta.

And the first thing that struck him was how nervous she seemed.

He remembered her settings, he expected her to be more energetic and open. What had happened?

Tigris cleared his throat, causing the maid to glance up at him. He said, as gently as he could "Take a seat Lupusregina." He gestured toward a nearby chair.

The maid nodded with a quick "Yes Tigris Euphrates-sama." And quickly moved to sit down where he had indicated, clasping her hands in her lap and staring right at him.

He closed the Encyclopedia and put it back in his inventory. He could continue his studying later. Instead he studied Lupusregina, taking in… everything. This was the first time he seriously had a chance to examine one of the NPCs up close. The way she breathed, the glimmer in her eyes, the faint smell of perfume, the slight fidgeting of her fingers, the slightly visible pulse at her neck… everything he looked at only further confirmed that he was indeed looking at a real, live, living thing. None of those tiny little details were present in YGGDRASIL, and it all further cemented the fact that this madness could very well be real.

They both stayed silent as Tigris tried to figure out how to begin this conversation, how he could ask what he wanted to ask in such a way that would give him a way out if it turned out different than what he hoped.

Before he could figure out how to say what he wanted to say, Lupusregina swallowed and tentatively broke the silence. "May I ask what you wanted me for, Tigris Euphrates-sama?"

Tigris couldn't help but wonder that himself. What he wanted was answers, but he wasn't entirely sure how to get them in such a way that wouldn't make him look like a fool if he was wrong. In the end, he gave up on subtlety and opted for the direct route. "Lupusregina… I am your creator, am I not?"

The maid quickly nodded. "That's correct, you are my creator Tigris Euphrates-sama. If it were not for you I would not exist."

That wasn't quite what he really wanted to know. It seemed that he would have to be even more direct. "Lupusregina, I am your creator, what does that mean to you? Who am I to you?"

She seemed taken aback by that. She blinked, once, twice. Then she tilted her head to one side. "What does that mean?"

Lupusregina smiled, and it couldn't really be described as anything other than dazzling. "Tigris Euphrates-sama, my Master, my Creator, it means anything that you want it to mean. Give me your commands, and I will do my utmost to ensure that it is fulfilled no matter what it may be or what it may cost me. If you ordered me to die, I would forfeit my life with a smile. If you ordered me to kill, I would not hesitate for an instant no matter who it was. Even if you ordered me to fight against one of the other Supreme Beings I would do my utmost best, although I don't think I'd be able to do much against them. I will be whatever you want me to be, do whatever you want me to do, and it would fill me with utmost joy to see your desires become reality no matter what those desires may be."

Tigris was taken aback as the maid stood up and walked over to kneel directly at his feet. She smiled up at him as she continued, her voice filled with sincerity and joy "Tigris Euphrates-sama, you are my one and only God, before all others. You need not hesitate to ask anything, to give any command, this meager servant shall do her utmost to make you proud and ask nothing in return."

He couldn't help but feel… tongue-tied.

What do you say when someone declares you their God? What do you do in the face of that kind of devotion and loyalty?

Tigris scrambled for something to say, and couldn't come up with anything. What would his friends do in this situation?

Momonga… he'd probably freeze up and make a fool out of himself. Much like he himself was doing right now. Herohero… would probably do about the same thing. Touch Me would most likely be in the same boat. Ulbert Alain Odle would most likely laugh maniacally and accept the loyalty with some corny speech. Peroroncino… the less he thought about what that perv would do in this situation the better. Lucifer? Oh, who the hell knows what that lunatic is ever thinking? The only reasonable guess that Tigris could ever make about that guy is that he's lying. It's always best to assume that Lucifer is lying or otherwise out to screw you unless he gets something out of telling the truth.

But, for all his lies he had a tendency to get others to believe them, and that was something he could maybe use right now.

Tigris reached out with his right hand and laid it upon Lupusregina's shoulder. He felt her shiver under his hand, the slight inhalation, the slight widening of the eyes, and that shivering grew more pronounced as he gently brought his hand up her neck to cup her chin. He smiled, and tried to make it look real. "Lupusregina Beta, I cannot describe the joy that your loyalty brings me. I have no doubt that you will be able to do anything that I need you to do."

He could still feel her trembling. In excitement? Happiness? Fear? All of them? He wasn't sure, but she certainly trembled as she looked up at him, unshed tears in her eyes as she smiled. "My Creator, your words fill me with the deepest possible joy. I am not worthy of such praise."

Tigris honestly had no idea what to do next, where to go from here, but he'd wing it and try his best. He reached into the item box and sorted through things until he got to Materials, selecting a square of fabric. "Here, Lupusregina, dry your tears."

As she took the make-shift handkerchief he patted the seat of the divan next to him. "Now, get up off the floor and sit down, we have plenty to talk about."

She scrambled to obey, clutching the now damp fabric in one hand.

Tigris looked at her, and he couldn't really describe the look in her eyes, there was too much emotion there, and too many of them, all jumbled together. At this point, he figured that candidness would serve him best. "Lupusregina Beta, I have a number of questions that I need you to answer. I need you to answer them honestly, and I need you to never let anyone know that I asked them. Can you do this?"

Lupusregina looked at him and smiled wide. "Tigris Euphrates-sama, I am here to serve. Feel free to pick my brain all you want, and I'll never tell a soul~."

He felt relieved as Lupusregina finally seemed to relax.

'Hopefully, with some luck, I'll be able to figure out exactly how everything works.'

He only hoped that Lupusregina was as sincere and devoted as she seemed to be. Because if she wasn't, if she was that good a liar, then things could potentially get very awkward.

XXXXXXXXX

They set out at dawn the next day, the Great Tomb of Nazarick's first real day in this new place.

As the first rays of the sun made themselves known in the east, the first expeditionary force of the Great Tomb of Nazarick exited the cemetery and made their way south.

According to Narberal Gamma and Lupusregina's report the forest looped from the northeast to the southeast and then spread west and they had no idea how deep it was except that from their vantage point they couldn't see the other side. They were closer to the part that extended west rather than the north-south wall of forest that lay to the east, so south they went. The mountains to the north and the plains to the west were, for the moment, disregarded. Scouts would keep watch in those areas for potential intruders, but those areas would not be fully explored until a later date.

Given that there was so little information available on the area that they would be exploring, they spared no expense on the force in question. Two hundred creatures of Nazarick left the gates and headed south with all speed. The main element if the force was made up of one hundred beasts of the sixth floor, of varying levels from level fifty to level eighty. Ninety five of the remaining hundred were made up of a polyglot of different forces. Liches flew in the air above, Eight Edge Assassins rode the beasts, and other heteromorphic creatures that would fare well in a forest environment likewise rode or flew depending on their preference.

The last five were at the head of the expedition in a V formation. Riding in the wings upon a pair of what looked like black horses were Solution Epsilon and Lupusregina Beta of the Pleiades. Ahead of them were the Floor Guardians of the sixth floor, Aura Bella Fiora riding upon a massive black wolf, and Mare Bello Fiore riding upon what looked like a gigantic chameleon with six legs. At the head of the formation was a figure that stood head and shoulders over even the mounted units, the Supreme Being Tigris Euphrates. He rode no mount. In the Master's own words, no beast would get him where he wanted to go faster than his own legs could carry him.

Tigris Euphrates ran straight south, seeing perfectly in the early morning gloom. He couldn't help but smile as the wind rushed past him. It was pleasant to run in YGGDRASIL, but even then the deliberate sensation dampening demanded by the law prevented him from feeling something like this. The pure joy of simply being able to run as fast as he could, far faster than he could ever move outside of the game, it was exhilarating. And it felt effortless which made it even better. The only issue was that he had to deliberately slow down so that everything else could keep up.

They devoured the miles that separated their home from the great green unknown faster than any car ever could, and in less than ten minutes they were approaching the outskirts of the massive forest.

Tigris took note of the dozen Shadow Demons that were hiding in the shade cast by the trees. They were part of the outermost layer of scouts south of Nazarick. When they went over the disposition of forces last night, everyone wanted to push them out further, but at the same time all four understood that it would be unwise to press into the forest before they were ready. The last thing they wanted was for some stray Demon to anger the denizens of the forest by invading their territory. At least, they wanted to prevent anything like that until they confirmed or disproved the possibility that powerful creatures lived within said forest.

It was a new world, they knew nothing. For all anyone knew, this expedition was walking into the lion's den. If the denizens of the forest were greater than level one hundred it did not bode well for anything.

And that was what they were here for today, among other things. To find out if the forest was a place of unmatched power, a paper tiger, something in between, or something else entirely.

Tigris signaled the company to come to a stop just before they entered the forest proper.

He took a quick, deep breath, and let it out before turning around. 'Okay, this is familiar territory. Make it clear that you're in charge, don't let anyone walk over you, and be consistent in the use of power.'

Once he was sure that he had the group's undivided attention, he started speaking. "This is the edge of the forest that we will be exploring for the next several days. Now, we are currently largely unaware of what exactly lives in here. Last night Momonga and Nigredo did some preliminary investigation with scrying magic and there doesn't seem to be anything too bad, but we didn't have enough time to search even a tenth of this place. On top of that, we must not ignore the possibility that there are things within this forest that possess the ability to cloak themselves from information magic. For that reason, most of you will be on stand-by here for the time being. Only those with the greatest chance of going unnoticed will be entering the forest right now. After some covert scouting, if it is deemed relatively safe, all of you will be broken into groups to carry out a more in-force reconnaissance. Am I understood?"

Those who could talk chorused back "Yes Tigris Euphrates-sama."

He nodded. "Excellent. Now, the initial scouting force will relatively small, made up of those who are the most likely to go unnoticed, and the most likely to be able to escape in the event of a confrontation with something out of their league. Aura Bella Fiora, the Fenrir, the Itzamna, Lupusregina Beta, Solution Epsilon, the Nightmares, the Eight Edge Assassins, and any Liches that can use the invisibility spell, please step forward."

Two dozen Eight Edge Assassins dismounted and formed up in two ranks of twelve before him; ten of the Liches flew forward and came to a halt above them. Aura rode the Fenrir, her massive black wolf mount, and came to a stop in front of the various forces. Lupusregina and Solution urged their Nightmares forward and came to a stop by her side. The Itzamna, Mare's chameleon-looking mount stood beside her. Mare himself had dismounted and had taken one of the mounts left behind by the Eight Edge Assassins, a large golden lion.

Tigris nodded at the advance party and walked over to Mare, who immediately bowed low when he got near. "Mare Bello Fiore, while we are gone you are going to be in charge of the defenses here. Take control of the left over elements of this scouting force, and the Shadow Demons, and ensure that nothing leaves the forest. If we find the forest to be relatively benign, I will trust you to split up the scouting forces into the squads we discussed before we left and give them their initial directions. Use this to stay in contact."

He handed Mare a small silver ring, adorned with a rectangular piece of ivory. The ivory had a straight black line going from one corner to the middle, then doubling back to the other corner on the same side, forming an obtuse angle, with a circular red mark at the vertex. It looked like an antique envelope from back in the days when people still sent their mail on paper.

"This ring was created by Herohero-san last night, we decided to call it the Message Ring. As the name implies, it gives the wearer the ability to cast the 'Message' spell without MP cost or cooldown; even if the wearer isn't normally capable of using magic. Use it to keep in touch with me and report anything unusual that happens here. If you need reinforcements, Demiurge is on stand-by at the ground level of the Tomb with backup and is minutes away. Am I understood?"

Mare took the ring with a sort of careful veneration and slipped it onto his a shaking finger. "Y-yes, I understand Tigris Euphrates-sama. I sh-shall ensure that nothing from this forest threatens the Great Tomb of Nazarick, and I-I shall ensure that this relic of the Supreme Being Herohero-sama is put to good use."

Tigris nodded and went back to the front. One of the things that they discovered last night was the need for communication. While most Players could use the Message spell, including all four remaining Ainz Ooal Gown members, relatively few of the NPCs could use it. None of the Floor Guardians were among the small handful that could. One of Herohero's jobs was to create a number of these Message Rings to ease communications between the various elements of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Thankfully, Message was a cheap spell and creating a ring that could grant its use to the wearer was simple and inexpensive provided one had the required skills. It did, however, take time. With everything else Herohero was doing at the moment he could only make, maybe, one of the rings every day.

He quickly divvied up the hand-picked subordinates into smaller groups. Lupusregina and Solution were each put in charge of a handful of Eight Edge Assassins and three of the flying Liches. Aura had her Fenrir and the Itzamna, he couldn't remember their names, and two of the Liches. The remaining two Liches and the rest of the Eight Edge Assassins, a force of a dozen creatures of Nazarick in all, followed Tigris Euphrates himself.

The red giant looked at the groups he had set up, satisfied. "Okay, we'll travel straight into the forest for a mile, and then we'll split up to find what we can find. Do your best to remain unnoticed, and keep an eye out for anything powerful or intelligent. If you should find intelligent inhabitants, let me know immediately. You each have Message Scrolls for that purpose. Does anyone have any questions?"

A brief pause, and nobody said anything. Tigris nodded "Okay then, let's go."

Without further ceremony he turned around and walked into the trees, activating 'Invisibility' as he did so, and the advance team followed behind him and following his example; activating skills and spells that would shield them from sight or hearing.

The light of the morning quickly faded in the presence of the trees, placing all within the forest's reach into a perpetual barely lit gloom. Everyone Tigris led into the forest was more than capable of seeing in the dark so it wasn't a problem, but those without night-vision would find navigation far from simple. As they began their trek into the unknown, he took a small jar of pale yellow cream that he smeared under his eyes. The item allowed him to use 'True Sight' even though he couldn't cast the spell, ensuring that no illusions or magical trickery would deceive him. Assuming it worked the same way as it did in YGGDRASIL at least.

Tigris took quick, careful steps and treated his head like it was on a swivel. He never stopped moving, carefully watching every bush and high tree branch for potential assailants.

The group walked in silence, and every one of them was as watchful as they could be. Nobody knew what they might run into, nobody knew what to expect. But for all their vigilance they found nothing of note. Birds and squirrels in the trees, rabbits and badgers, and other animals hiding in the bushes or beneath upraised roots, but for all their attention they didn't see anything that could be considered a danger.

Tigris tried to suppress his nervousness at the whole situation, tried to show the NPCs and the servants confidence and strength. If he made it obvious that he was afraid, they would feel fear as well. If he showed weakness, that might weaken their faith. All the same, it wasn't easy. He was used to taking the vanguard position for the Guild, he was used to going into danger and the unknown, but never with the stakes this high.

As he carefully trekked through the soft forest loam, as he took in the smells of the plants and the earth, the sounds of the birds and the animals, felt the cool humidity on his skin, it struck him more than ever before that they were truly in a different place. He didn't know how it happened, but he truly had taken on the form of Tigris Euphrates, and he truly was in a completely unknown land.

He cast his eyes over those he was leading, noticing the auras around each and every one of them. It proved that the ointment worked at least, he could easily see the various effects they had all enchanted themselves with and more importantly he could see through them.

Tigris considered the small form of Aura, clutching the Fenrir's fur in two small hands as her ears twitched and jewel bright eyes glanced in every direction, missing nothing. He kind of regretted the way things went in the arena the other night. Things didn't go quite as he had wanted. When he applied that debuff to her, testing whether his skills worked the way they were supposed to- and boy DID they, more than he ever expected- he was hoping to use that to create a better rapport between them. Congratulate her on her victory, give condolence for her injuries, and offer to heal her. But Mare beat him to it.

'How could I have forgotten that Druids have healing magic? Has it really been that long since I seriously played YGGDRASIL?'

It was that fact, that he had forgotten some of the basic abilities of one of the most common classes that compelled him to hit the books so hard last night. After he had finished his talk with Lupusregina, despite his tiredness, he had spent practically the entirety of the previous night poring over his old notes to bring himself back up to speed. He was still missing a lot though, he had to seriously try to remember some of the old tricks he used with his own character.

Tigris shook his head to get away from the self-deprecating monologue. No time to be distracted now. His eyes swept over the tree tops, he combed the ground for tracks, carefully watching for any sign of something worse than the occasional sparrow or skunk. But he saw nothing, and nobody else did either or they would have said something.

He eyes eventually found themselves back to Aura again, wondering how to close the distance a little. In the arena she had shown a rambunctious charm, a cheeriness that she lacked now. Ever since they gathered this morning she had been all business, and Mare had been the same. Had he intimidated them that badly?

'I wanted them to think of me as hard but fair. But Mare's quick action kept me from providing the carrot to oppose the initial stick. I have to find some opportunity to make that offer or she'll never quit this soldier act she's putting on.'

That drew his thoughts back to the arena, to the thing that worried him most. When he used his [Steal Time] skill on Aura, stealing the moment of time where she dodged the Primal Fire Elemental's attack, he felt a surge of fierce joy. And when he saw Aura flat-footed, not knowing what just happened and why she didn't move as she intended to, when he saw her take that haymaker right on the chin, it filled him with deep satisfaction.

Those feelings terrified him, once he had seriously thought about them and what they might mean. To say nothing of the sensations involved with using that skill.

'We have taken on the forms of our in-game avatars. And our new bodies are affecting our thoughts and feelings. Momonga can't feel any deep emotion, every time he does it gets forcibly calmed whatever that feeling may be. How is this affecting Lucifer or Herohero? Herohero is always hungry, no matter how much he eats, even with a Ring of Sustenance, but I haven't noticed anything weird with Lucifer yet. Could his changes be more subtle? He didn't seem any different. And that's just what we know now, after less than a day's worth of study. How will this affect us in the future? Years from now? Decades from now?'

'Centuries from now?'

None of the four of them had races that were burdened by the passing of the ages. One idea brought up in the meeting the previous night was the possibility that they might live for centuries, or perhaps infinitely if they weren't slain by violence. Tigris couldn't help but feel overwhelmed at the possibility. People died. One way or another everyone died one way or another. Even if you survive everything else old age would get you at around a hundred and twenty and then you died, that was how life worked. But what if it didn't work that way?

The idea of living long enough to see mountains move and oceans shift in their beds, it was crazy.

'And in all that time, how might my new body affect me?'

He considered his own racial choice, an Efreeti. One of the things he made sure to look up in his Encyclopedia the previous night was the legend behind his own species. An evil Djinni, a creature of air and fire based on ancient Arabian myth. Brash and boastful, brutal and warlike, filled with vicious fury and cruel cunning. They reveled in breaking their enemies and brought terror and horror into the lives of any that they felt deserved it. Which meant pretty much everyone.

'If that joy I felt, if the reason I did what I did in the first place was because of my new body influencing me, what am I going to do?'

'If I don't do anything, who else might I hurt?'

Tigris wasn't sure how this impulse would affect how his remaining guildmates saw him. Lucifer probably wouldn't care as long as it didn't seriously put a wrench in anything, he was solid that way, but Herohero and Momonga were more softhearted. He couldn't be sure that they would be as accepting of any new tendencies.

Then again, he couldn't be sure how their new bodies would affect them in the future either. The things they role-played as weren't very friendly either. Undead Overlords and Elder Black Oozes were vicious creatures, each in their own way. They could very well end up _worse_.

And then there was the issues of the NPCs again, how would they react to all of this?

He glanced over to another member of their party, one of the few that he was fairly sure that he could put his trust in.

One of the things that they confirmed last night, Herohero's idea, was the exact relationship they had with their own personal creations.

It was… somewhat overwhelming.

They considered him a God. Or at least that was what she called him.

Tigris carefully considered the actions of Lupusregina Beta when he called for her last night, and when he questioned her.

The idea that such a beautiful woman was at his command and would do whatever he told her to do was… not something he was used to.

She answered all of his questions with utmost respect, and answered in such a way that he easily understood exactly what she meant. Moreover, it was clear that she _understood_ him. It was almost uncanny, the way that she was able to sense his worry, his unease, and even make a fairly accurate guess as to the cause of those feelings.

The meeting, before long, became less master and superior and grew more informal. Though she always maintained perfect respect, Lupusregina always seemed to cater to his desires, spoken or unspoken, including the unspoken desire to be less formal and more candid.

It was eerie. And he imagined his subsequent meetings with his other creations would proceed much the same way.

Tigris Euphrates didn't create many of the NPCs. A few, but they were mostly just things that struck his fancy at the time without much in the way of rhyme or reason. Lupusregina Beta of the Pleiades, the Head Chef over in the kitchens, Neuronist Painkill on the fifth floor, the Torturers that worked for Neuronist, Pulcinella the clown on the seventh floor, Gelante- one the Area Guardians on the first floor-,the Eight Edge Assassins…. Tigris tried to remember more but he couldn't come up with anything. He was pretty sure that was about it. A disjointed hodgepodge of mostly role-playing NPCs. At least they were role-playing NPCs until they became real.

He thought of the creations of his remaining guildmates, and they didn't have too much more than he did. Momonga had created only the one. Pandora's Actor, the Area Guardian of the Treasury. Herohero was a bit of an odd duck. As one of the Guild's programmers, Herohero had a hand in quite a few NPC designs so he could technically claim partial credit for a large number of NPCs. However, only sixteen of the Homunculus maids on the ninth floor actually considered him their creator.

Then there was Lucifer. He built his NPCs according to a theme. Every NPC he created had a trick to them, usually more than one. Kyoukuhou, the Insect Druid on the second floor. As nasty as the cockroach king could be, he wasn't that big a threat to someone who had hit the level cap. Only when he was slain did the real danger become evident as all the insects summoned by him disappeared, revealing that the Black Capsule was a pit trap. Normally it was filled in with insects to the point that one could walk on them, but once the bugs vanished anyone in the room would fall. And at the bottom of the pit was a showcase of explosives. Only the hardiest, most heavily armored and protected players would survive. And those that did would have only two options: to climb or fly out of the pit, which would trigger more traps set to attack those trying to leave but would leave those who dropped down alone, or to exit through a tunnel at the bottom. The tunnel, as expected, was another death trap and at the very end they would emerge through a moving section of wall to find themselves right where they began at the entrance of the Tomb.

His other creations were similar to that, a number of sneaky aquatic Area Guardians on the fourth floor, an antlion that looked like it was made of ice named Grant that made its home on the fifth floor's snow plains. Gashokukouchuuou, the Area Guardian of the Large Cave on the sixth floor, Guren, the Area Guardian of the seventh floor's River of Flame. Victim, the Floor Guardian of the Eighth Floor, the one that Lucifer considered his masterpiece.

And the one he was looking at right now, Solution Epsilon of the Pleiades, as much of a living booby trap as any of the others.

In many ways she was the opposite of Lupusregina. Lupusregina was bright and alive and active, Solution was cold and composed, one was tanned and the other pale. One healed, the other killed, there were numerous comparisons.

Tigris Euphrates couldn't help but wonder. What relationship did the others strike with their NPCs? He knew that Momonga was deeply embarrassed of Pandora's Actor; the Doppelganger was a walking, talking reminder of more immature and embarrassing days for him. Likewise, he couldn't honestly see how cold, composed Solution could possess the same charm that he had found in Lupusregina.

Furthermore, he vaguely remembered Solution's settings. Could that cold killer actually be warm even if she tried?

Regardless, Lucifer must have placed some amount of trust in her. Otherwise, he never would have insisted that she accompany this group.

"Um, Tigris Euphrates-sama?"

Tigris was pulled from his musings by a quiet question. He quickly glanced around to see who had spoken. "Yes Aura, what is it? Did you find anything?"

The dark elf girl shook her head and continued to speak in a near whisper. "No, but you said that we'd be splitting up after we travelled a mile into the forest right? We've currently travelled about a mile and a half."

He was taken aback by this. Had his attention truly wandered so much?

'Don't let it show.'

Tigris nodded and spoke quietly. "Yes, I thought it would be wise to stay as a group for a little longer than initially predicted. We'll break up into squads here, everybody pick a direction and see what you can find. You each have Message Scrolls; let me know if you find anything urgent. For anything that's interesting but doesn't require immediate action, wait for me to contact you. I'll Message Aura, Lupusregina, and Solution every half hour. Understood?"

He received a round of replies and nodded. "Okay then, good luck everyone. Be careful, keep your eyes open, and stay safe."

Then he turned to the southwest and led his team of Assassins and Liches away from the others as they each went a different way.

'Okay, no time to be distracted now, you never know what something nasty might pop out to say hi. Focus!'

He continued forward in his search for anything that didn't belong, a search for anything dangerous. And he was conflicted. On the one hand, he didn't want to find anything dangerous, but on the other hand some part of him did.

'I kind of do hope that we find something out here that can threaten us. If we cannot, if we find nothing that can defend itself, if we find nothing but lambs to the slaughter, I can't help but be afraid of what we, of what I, might eventually do to them.'

XXXXXXXXX

It was a new day in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, and everybody was full of excitement. Poisson could barely contain herself. Last night, the Tomb had somehow been moved! As scary as that was, she didn't feel any worry. The other fact was far more important, and WAY more exciting! Herohero-sama, Lucifer-sama, and Tigris Euphrates-sama had all returned to the Tomb!

A full tenth of the Supreme Beings were in residence at the Great Tomb of Nazarick, who could ask for more?

Well, admittedly, it would have been really nice if all of them had come back. Or at least if Coup de Grace-sama had come back with them, she would have settled for just Coup de Grace-sama.

She envied some of the other maids for that. Herohero had created about a third of her fellow Homunculus Maids, and his creations couldn't have been more excited. If that wasn't enough, he had apparently called one of them into his room last night. Just what had happened in there?

Gossip was all the rage at the moment, but First wasn't speaking about it no matter how persistent anyone was, no matter how she was asked. She just kept repeating that 'she wouldn't say' and put things off until everyone had to go to bed. Poisson couldn't help but wonder just what had happened, but she noticed that First was certainly in a cheery mood after she came back. Just what the heck did Herohero-sama want her for? Something routine? Something… steamy? It wouldn't be anything normal would it? After all, what else are you supposed to think when a man calls a woman to his bedroom in the middle of the night? Although, Herohero-sama was a Supreme Being so it isn't like he could be measured by any normal standard.

If that wasn't enough, rumor had it that Tigris Euphrates-sama had called Lupu-chan to his room, and Lucifer-sama had called Solution-san. Well, it made sense that if the Supreme Beings wanted… something like that, then it was only natural that they would call for one of the Pleiades rather than the normal Homunculus maids like her. Still, were maids the latest fetish among the Supreme Beings or something? Should she be prepared to service her Masters in things other than cleaning? If that was the case she was all for it, they were her creators after all, her entire existence was solely to serve them so she had no qualms in satisfying their carnal desires if that was what they wanted.

Poisson couldn't help but be a little apprehensive though. While they were the Supreme Beings and it would be strange if they didn't have a number of concubines, would they really choose her? They had their pick of everyone in Nazarick. Between Albedo-sama, Shalltear-sama, the Pleiades, her fellow Homunculi, and all the other females in Nazarick that she didn't even know about, she surely fell well short.

She examined herself in the mirror as she got dressed for the new day. At 5'11 she was one of the tallest maids, and that made her feel a little intimidated. Weren't guys put off by taller women? Although she wasn't anywhere near the height of Tigris Euphrates-sama she was still taller than Momonga-sama by a few inches, and quite a bit taller than Herohero-sama or Lucifer-sama. Well, while it was ridiculous to think that any of them would be intimidated by her height it would surely put them off wouldn't it? Still, her bright green eyes were pretty, at least that was what she was told, and her golden hair was long and lustrous as it fell to her back.

Still, there were issues. She idly cupped the front of her chest, frowning at the lack of growth. Freakishly tall, and freakishly flat, how unfair was that? No, no, that was wrong. Her body was made by Coup de Grace-sama, she should be nothing but grateful, thinking otherwise would be disrespectful.

Still, would a B-cup be too much to ask?

On the plus side, she was told that she kind of resembled a taller, blond, two eyed Shizu-chan, which was a fantastic complement but there was no way that she could capture even a quarter of the charm held by the most popular member of the Pleiades.

Despite her misgivings, when they saw the duty roster for today she couldn't help but smile big and wide. First may have gotten super lucky, but she, Poisson, had gotten lucky too!

Every day the forty one Homunculus Maids of the Great Tomb of Nazarick had loads of work to do across the ninth and tenth floors. One of the most important duties they had was cleaning the rooms of the Supreme Beings. It was also one of the most time consuming tasks. Each individual suite was massive, to clean one properly took one person most of a day. Still, it wasn't like anyone minded. If anything they were excited. The Supreme Beings were their creators after all, it was only right that they work their fingers to the bone in devout reverence.

And today she, Poisson, had drawn the right to clean the room of the Supreme Being Lucifer-sama.

She couldn't get the grin off her face, after all she would be working in the direct presence of one of her Masters! Could anything make a devote servant more happy than to prove their worth to their Master?

Poisson glanced around; her sister Fourier had gotten the right to clean the room of Momonga-sama, lucky. And foul tempered Increment had pulled Herohero-sama's room. Wow look at all those glares! Every one of Herohero-sama's creations was super jealous! Not that she didn't understand, if Coup de Grace-sama was here then she would kill to have the right to clean his room. Today that particular honor had gone to Seventh. She had better do a good job. Tigris Euphrates-sama's room was to be cleaned by Head Maid Pestonya-sama herself.

Things after that passed in a sort of daze. She was going to be caring for the chambers of one of the Supreme Beings, while said Supreme Being was there watching her, could she be blamed for being so excited? The chattering voices of her fellow maids were reduced to mere background noise as she did her utmost to prepare for this day. Everything had to be perfect, her uniform spotless, her hair in perfect condition, the faintest application of make-up. She winked at the figure in the mirror. Today she had to be perfect.

And that was when that ditz Pascal ran up and clapped her on the shoulder, rumpling her uniform, knocking her headband askew, and laughing about it all the while. And then she had the nerve to laugh about it.

"Hahaha, hey Pwa-chan! You're over here in some kind of daze, are you getting ready for work or for a hot date?"

She glared up at this individual that was, sadly, her sister. In a sense. They were both made by Coup de Grace-sama after all so that made them sisters in a sense. Where Poisson had her hair long and lustrous, Pascal's was short and tangled if no less lustrous. With her short stature, ocean blue eyes, and modest breasts she was certainly pretty, but Poisson wished that she could keep some of that energy to herself.

"So! Hey! Pwa-chan, are you going to answer me or not? Did you get all excited, hearing about what happened to First-san and the Pleiades? Were you thinking that when you clean Lucifer-sama's room today he'll just sweep you off your feet and ensure you get nothing done today? Huh?"

Poisson turned her attention back to the mirror, quickly adjusting everything that Pascal casually ruined, ensuring that her appearance was as perfect as the Masters that she served, or as close as one such as her could get.

"Are you ignoring me? That's not nice Pwa-chan. I'm just asking you a question, the least you could do is answer."

She would not answer this menace; she would not give this overactive child any further cause to pester her. Eventually she would go off and bother someone else, surely.

Sadly, that was not the case. It seemed that Pascal had decided to spend all of her attention on her. Why now? Why today? This day just went from perfect to miserable as she suffered the obnoxious attentions of her most energetic sister.

Poisson did her best, but her sister was never far away, following her all the way down to the staff canteen, through the breakfast line, and despite Poisson's best attempts she couldn't find a place to sit where Pascal couldn't follow her.

Then she saw her chance, Fresnel had finished her first course and went back to the line for seconds. She darted in and stole the recently vacated seat, surrounded by her other sisters on all sides, Pascal had nowhere to sit, victory! Sweet relief!

That was when Laplace, sitting to her left, got up and went after Fresnel. Moreover she had the gall to smile at her while she did it! Traitor!

Of course Pascal immediately took the unoccupied seat, thanking Laplace while she did so. Was this all planned!?

"Wow, that was lucky huh? It's a good think La-chan is so hungry or else I might not have been able to sit next to you, wouldn't that be horrible? Anywhere, where were we? Oh yeah! So, Pwa-chan, do you think that Lucifer-sama would be all romantic or would he be more forceful, telling you to get something from somewhere and surprising you from behind while you're bent over? Or maybe something else? Like maybe dictating something like 'this maid is the only one that shall clean my room, alter your schedules accordingly!' and using all the extra time to slowly close to distance?"

'Why me? What did I do to deserve this? Why can't she go pick on Seventh? She got Coup de Grace-sama's room. Why not Fourier or Increment? Aren't they just as deserving of this abuse?'

There was only one way out.

She ignored Pascal's babbling, ignored how her sisters were ignoring their own conversations to quietly giggle at Pascal's increasingly pointed questions, ignored the stir that happened when Shizu-chan and Narberal-san entered the canteen, and focused on finishing her breakfast as quickly as possible. Never before had she been so sad that she was a Homunculus, and that like all the other Homunculus Maids in Nazarick she had 'Increase Food Consumption' as a racial penalty. If she only needed to eat less then she would be able to finish her breakfast that much faster and get away that much more swiftly. She barely even tasted the food as she wolfed it down, slowing down only enough to ensure she didn't spill any on herself. If her uniform got dirty, she would either have to go to work looking slovenly or else go change before she reported to Lucifer-sama's room and either one would be disastrous.

Finally, she finished the mountain of food she had gotten for herself. And as much as she may have wanted seconds she wanted to be free of Pascal even more.

She bolted for the door. "I'm sorry Pascal, but I must get going. Lucifer-sama's room isn't going to clean itself."

The maid heard her sister's farewell but she paid little mind to it. "So long Pwa-chan, try to make sure he doesn't tear your dress!"

The girl clearly had no idea what she was talking about. But, thankfully, she stayed behind. If Pascal had to choose between harassing her or getting a second helping of breakfast before going to work, she'd rather have the second meal. Thank God.

Poisson took a moment to calm down, to get her breathing under control. She couldn't appear rushed or flustered.

'Gentleness, elegance, don't look like anything's wrong, don't rush, glide.'

As much as she missed the possibility of seconds, there were upsides. She would get to Lucifer-sama's room that much faster. She couldn't wait. She took a piece of candy out of her pocket and quickly popped it into her mouth, focusing on the sweet taste to distract her from what she missed out to escape Pascal as she buried the wrapper deep down underneath everything else she had stored away. Whitebrim-sama was a genius when it came to clothing design, hiding so many pockets where nobody would imagine they could be hidden.

Before she could get too lost in her thoughts however, she finally came to a set of wide, white double-doors. The only thing that set this set of doors apart from all the other sets of doors along this hallway was the golden symbol emblazoned upon it. Twelve spreading wings emerged from a common point, emerging from the shaft of a three-pronged trident. Lucifer-sama's symbol.

She glanced at the guards that stood to either side of the door, the golden armored skeletons known as the Nazarick Master Guard. She didn't know exactly what level they were, but she was certain that she would die if either one of them so much as sneezed on her. If skeletons could sneeze.

Still, there was nothing to be afraid of. She stood up straight and gently curtsied to the two of them. "Good morning, I am here to clean Lucifer-sama's room."

For a moment nothing happened, then one of the guards gestured towards the door. 'That's permission to enter right? Or at least permission to knock?'

Poisson had never seen guards posted outside the rooms like this before. But that wasn't too strange, the protection of the Supreme Beings was everyone's highest desire after all. She walked forward and gently knocked on the door, her heart pounding so hard she thought it might burst out of her chest.

She waited one moment, two, three, and then she finally heard a voice on the other side bidding her to enter. Poisson took a deep breath, and then opened the door and stepped inside.

The first thing she did was close the door behind her and bow low. "Good morning Lucifer-sama, if you do not object I am here to clean your room today."

'Don't move, don't say anything more, don't look up until he tells you to, just admire the tile.'

After a moment she finally received the order to raise her head and she rose to full attention immediately to take in room.

It was a wide parlor covered in shining marble. The floor was made of white marble tile inlaid with gold. The walls and the vaulted ceiling were made of the same almost luminescent material. Greco-roman marble pillars rose from the floor to the ceiling on either side of the door and proceeded to the opposite side where a door led further in. Silver chandeliers set into the ceiling between the pillars burned candles that struck every surface, reflecting light everywhere. It was bright enough to stun anyone who wasn't prepared for it. However, this was far from the first time that Poisson had cleaned this room so she knew what she was in for.

The furniture was rather spartan in contrast to the architecture. A few paintings adorned the walls, although no matter how many times Poisson saw them she could never really describe what she was looking at. A handful of white leather couches and chairs stood on the left side of the room surrounding a few small tables made of gold, silver, platinum, and glass. There were a number of large cabinets made of golden wood and silver. But her attention was drawn to the other side of the room, where things had changed.

Before, the right wall of the room was adorned by a number of bizarre paintings, like a man being hung on a four dimensional cross and another one that was made of numerous symbols forming a greater symbol, the significance of which was lost on her but now these had been taken down. There were more chairs and couches and tables and cabinets there too, but now these had all been moved over to the left side, leaving only the tables and cabinets. Those pieces of furniture were now spaced evenly against the wall, each holding up what looked like massive silver egg cups. Egg cups large enough to hold an ostrich egg. However, instead of massive eggs, each cup held gems of approximately the same size.

The thing that truly puzzled her was that most of those huge gemstones had what looked like thin silver wire wrapped around them, before the wire led up to what looked like mirrors on the walls, only the mirrors were dark and showed nothing. Except three.

Poisson took a few careful steps into the room to get a better look at the exceptions. Those ones weren't dark, nor did they reflect the room, instead they showed other pictures entirely, constantly moving. Well, two of them were moving. The first looked out into a dusty, desert-y looking landscape and she would have thought she was looking at a picture if it weren't for the fact that a gentle wind blew the dust and the sand. The second mirror showed a dark stone room adorned with fine wooden furniture and Poisson was shocked to realize that she recognized that room. It was Momonga-sama's study. In fact, now that she looked closer that figure right there was Momonga-sama himself! He was making weird hand gestures in front of a mirror that looked almost identical to the one she was looking at now.

And the third… she wasn't sure what she was looking at. The picture was bobbing up and down, slowly but rhythmically, and it was looking down a flat pale expanse of some material. But at the end the material split into two and off the screen and between the split there was this black blob slowly moving up and down.

That was when a pale hand entered the picture and touched the black thing, pushing back the blackness, which Poisson now realized was hair, revealing pale skin and a pair of red eyes.

Then Poisson realized what she was looking at and she felt her cheeks burn. She knew that she should look away, but at the same time she kind of wanted to keep watching as those pale features grew larger to fill the mirror before the entire picture went black.

Poisson couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"Enjoying the show?"

She turned to look at the source of the voice. And there he was, the Supreme Being Lucifer-sama. He was wrapping more of the silver wire around another one of the massive gems.

Poisson couldn't get the words out of her mouth. 'I was supposed to be here to clean but instead I wasted time gawking at things, oh God this has already gone bad, what do I do? Okay, first thing, apologize.'

The maid bowed low to do just that but the Master beat her to the punch. "Shalltear really doesn't hold herself back you know, she's been debauching herself with those Vampire Brides of hers all night. I can't help but wonder what might have gotten her all riled up."

She bit back on her words, not wanting in interrupt. She glanced up to see Lucifer-sama carefully set the gem into the massive egg cup, but despite this the mirror attached to it remained dark. Still, she wondered at what he was talking about. What did Shalltear have to do with what she was looking at just now?

Poisson felt the air move and suddenly Lucifer-sama was right there next to her. She felt her heart start pounding again. What would happen next? Would she be punished for her gawking? Or would something else happen? The Master bade her to raise her head so she immediately stood at attention.

He smiled at her, and she felt her knees grow weak. Did everyone feel like this when they were so close to one of the Supreme Beings?

"So, what do you think of this little experiment? Herohero and I worked on it all night, among other things. I think we've done a pretty good job of it so far. Herohero has done his part, I've done a good chunk of my part, and if Momonga would hurry up and do his part we'd be in good shape now that we know this works."

It took a second for her to find her voice. "I, I have no idea what to think Lucifer-sama, I don't even know what I'm looking at."

He shrugged. "I suppose that's not surprising. To make a long answer short, it's a critical security tool. Herohero made all the pieces for it, and it falls to Momonga and me, mostly me, to put those pieces into place. He's being kind of shy about it really, but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. It's not like Momonga has ever done anything like this before."

Surely that was leave to ask a question, right? "Um, Lucifer-sama, what is Momonga-sama not used to doing?"

He looked at her, and her heart started beating even faster. Then he smiled. "Giving a gift to a pretty girl."

Before she could even begin to understand that he continued. "Now then, before you begin your cleaning could you do me a favor?"

Poisson started at the opportunity. "Of course Lucifer-sama, I will do anything you desire. You need only say the word!"

"Wonderful. It's pretty simple, there's a deck of cards in that cabinet over there. Would you please fetch them for me Poisson?"

"Immediately Master!"

She hurried over to the cabinet that he was indicated, full of excitement that he actually knew her name. That was a very good sign. The cabinet was kind of low, so she had to bend over a little to reach the handle.

As she grabbed the handle, she remembered Pascal's words from earlier. 'Do you think that Lucifer-sama would be all romantic or would he be more forceful, telling you to get something from somewhere and surprising you from behind while you're bent over?'

Poisson's breathing got heavier and her heart pounded faster as she contemplated the idea. If that was about to happen now, she couldn't think of anything that would make her happier.

So, with hope in her pounding heart she opened the door of the little white cabinet and unleashed what was inside.

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Lucifer watched as the maid opened the door and triggered the trap. A wave of darkness spread from the cabinet throughout the room, carrying with it a quiet whispering of things best left unheard.

He watched in silence as Poisson stood still for a second before collapsing to one side, she banged the side of her head on the open door and fell to the floor flat on her back, eyes wide open and staring.

The 'Blasphemy' spell was an area-of-effect spell that had different effects depending on the distance one had from the epicenter of the spell and the difference in level between the caster and the victim. In this case the victim was at point blank range, the caster was level one hundred, the victim at level two. She had no chance.

He looked down at her lifeless form, bleeding from where she struck her head and reached down to close her eyes. "I told you not to open the cabinet, didn't you hear me? I distinctly said not to open those cabinets, but you insisted on cleaning inside of them. You really should pay more attention. That aside, thank you for participating in this experiment. Your sacrifice shall help us understand how everything works."

Then he peered inside the cabinet and plucked out a rectangular box from among the paraphernalia inside. It was six inches long, four inches wide, and an inch and a half high, made of jade and inlaid with a pale blue metal. "And also thank you for fetching these for me, these will be a critical part of another upcoming experiment."

The cabinet door was closed, the trap reset, ready to surprise any intruder who dared look inside.

Lucifer hovered over to look at the mirror showing Momonga. It didn't look like was getting anywhere with that Mirror of Remote Viewing. Suddenly, he did something that apparently made it zoom out. After a few minutes more of looking about, he finally found something and the view of Lucifer's own mirror slowly zoomed in.

He reached over to touch the shining gem attached to the mirror in question and turned off the mute function, allowing him to hear as well as see.

The voice of the butler emerged from the crystal. "No, that's no festival."

Lucifer now had a clear view of what Momonga's mirror was looking at. It was a village, a stereotypical medieval European peasant village. And it was currently being attacked by a number of armored riders. They were rather systematic about it, surrounding the village with outriders and attacking the village starting from the outermost buildings, driving the survivors inward. In the face of an utter lack of meaningful resistance, it was an acceptable tactic.

He watched both the image in the mirror and the one who manipulated it as he moved the viewpoint around, looking at each individual scene of carnage for a moment before changing it again.

Lucifer kind of regretted that he was limited to this secondhand point of view. Through the mirror, only his sense of sight could be used. It would be interesting to know what Momonga was feeling at this moment. To know how this sight and how his new body affected him. But even without his newfound senses to help him, Lucifer had known Momonga for years. He knew what he'd be feeling at this moment. A combination of disgust and anger, and pity, he would want to help them for no reason other than the fact that they're human and in trouble. Or at least that's what he would be feeling before he came to this world. Now, Lucifer wasn't so sure. Would Momonga still feel those things? Or would he lack them? Would he notice the lack of them? How would he react to that?

For all of those noble thoughts though, it was unlikely Momonga would do anything and that seemed more and more likely as he continued to do nothing but move the mirror's viewpoint around. His new form limited his emotions, but it didn't get rid of them entirely, and while he was in Momonga's presence there was one emotion that formed a constant background noise around him. Fear.

It was ironic, really. How could someone that could feel no intense emotions be ruled by fear? How could someone who was nothing but bones be so spineless? Ignoring the irony, Momonga was a coward at heart. And they knew too little to be making rash moves like saving a bunch of random nobodies from a disaster that they could very well have brought upon themselves somehow.

Despite this relative certainty, he continued to watch him as he continued to watch the slaughter. It was unfortunate that Momonga had no facial expressions to read, it made things more difficult. But the jerkiness of his movements betrayed an agitation, a restlessness.

Sebastian spoke again. "What are your plans?"

Lucifer would be rather interested to know that himself.

After a few moments Momonga finally replied. "Nothing. There is no reason, value, or benefit to saving them."

So he made the sensible decision. That was reassuring.

The butler seemed a little disappointed though as he let out a quiet "Yes sir."

Momonga faced Sebastian and stared right at him. Lucifer took the opportunity to gauge Momonga's expression, or at least try to. His best guess was to use the eye lights as a reference point, they seemed to brighten or dim depending on his emotions. He idly wondered if Momonga realized that he was watching him. Momonga was a part of the planning stages for this after all, but he may not have realized that things had already progressed so far.

"This… Touch Me-san."

Lucifer looked up at this. What the hell did Touch Me have to do with anything?

"A man must always show gratitude… Anyways, sooner or later I would have to confirm my abilities in this world."

What the hell is he doing? It didn't take long to figure it out. Momonga had been struck by a heroic impulse and was trying to use memories of Touch Me to justify it. But how would he act?

"Sebas, tell Lucifer-san to have the alert level of Nazarick raised to the highest. I will go ahead first, notify Albedo that she should follow me fully armed. Then go and prepare some backup troops. We have to prepare for any unforeseen events which may render me unable to escape so prepare some people with stealth abilities in case we need to deal with enemies in this village."

"Yes Milord, but protecting Momonga-sama is the duty that was passed to me."

"Who gave you that kind of order…. Those knights are razing that village, which means that there may be knights capable of invading Nazarick nearby. So you must stay behind."

Lucifer had no words. The chain of fallacies and bullshit that made up Momonga's explanation was enough to boggle the mind. Nazarick is quite far from that village if those plains are anything to judge by, the odds of more knights being close enough to Nazarick to attack are miniscule. The odds of a large force attacking without being noticed by the scouts first is nonexistent, and even if they did invade Nazarick they wouldn't be able to do anything truly significant. Probably.

It made no sense, which meant that Momonga quite likely just didn't want to have Sebastian right there in the thick of things in case he got over his head and had to run away. That was the sappy kind of thing that Momonga could come up with.

Momonga gestured to one side. "[Portal]", and with that word an oval of darkness appeared before Momonga stepped through.

The viewpoint in turn turned around and moved towards a door.

Lucifer sighed. This happened far, far faster than he would have anticipated. He felt sure that Momonga would refrain from anything rash without getting approval from everyone else first. Was this independent streak a result of his semi-isolation?

Regardless, Momonga couldn't be trusted to act alone. And he certainly couldn't be allowed to be summarily slaughtered by the residents of this world.

Lucifer sent off a quick [Message] telling Demiurge to keep a close eye out for possible invading forces and another one to Herohero about the resurrection of the maid before using his Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown to teleport directly outside of Momonga's room.

As amusing as it was to see the look on the butler's face when he opened the door, there was no time to waste. He brushed past him without a word and zipped through the room beyond to enter the study. Then he dived into the still open Portal without hesitation.

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So here it is, after two weeks and two re-writes. And truth be told I'm still not entirely satisfied with it, I'm not sure how some parts will be received. But I think I managed to convey what I wanted to convey and get things set up for the next chapter. Not quite as large as chapter three but it's not too far off. No Overlord lore segment this time, but in exchange I'll give two stat sheets instead of one on characters that featured prominently in this chapter.

 **LUPUSREGINA BETA**

 **The Sadist With A Smiling Mask**

 **Alignment-** -200 – Significantly Evil

 **Job-** Battle Maid

 **Residence-** Great Tomb of Nazarick, Ninth Floor, Maid's Room

 **Racial Level- 5**

Werewolf Lv.5

 **Job Level- 54**

Cleric Lv.10

Battle Cleric Lv.5

Warlord Lv.4

Hierophant Lv.5

Others

 **HP:** 53

 **MP:** 45

 **Phys. Atk:** 46

 **Phys. Def:** 53

 **Agility:** 37

 **Mag. Atk:** 45

 **Mag. Def:** 44

 **Resistance:** 56

 **Special Ability:** 32

 **Total:** 411

 **Poisson**

 **The Maid Dreaming of Love**

 **Alignment-** -50 – Neutral-Evil

 **Job-** Maid

 **Residence-** Great Tomb of Nazarick, Ninth Floor, Homunculus Maid Dorm

 **Racial Level- 1**

Homunculus Lv.1

 **Job Level- 1**

Maid Lv.1

 **HP:** 4

 **MP:** 0

 **Phys. Atk:** 2

 **Phys. Def:** 1

 **Agility:** 3

 **Mag. Atk:** 0

 **Mag. Def:** 2

 **Resistance:** 1

 **Special Ability:** 0

 **Total:** 13

Okay, that's it for today. Please review to let me know what you think so that I may improve and I hope you all have a nice day. I'll see you all again in chapter five when we finally get to Carne Village.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five, at long last.

There was quite a bit of feedback last chapter, a lot of polarization. To those who are dissatisfied all I can tell you is to have patience. I am not going to be cramming exposition down everyone's throats so to be quite blunt not everything will be revealed all at the start. So some things won't immediately make sense. But rest assured that things happen for a reason. While hints and clues are provided if you look for them I'm sorry to say that there are portions and will continue to be portions where if you just look at the surface material and don't think any deeper into it you might end up with an inaccurate conclusion. So have fun looking at the small details and trying to figure out what's happening behind the scenes before the big reveal. Because I will not give everything away right from the start.

There are four main characters to this story, each one will have their time in the limelight, and each one has different ways of thinking and different ways of doing things. And these all play a factor in how they interact and how they think about each other. And in Momonga's case this will affect his way of thinking about a number of things and as a result he will not be quite the same person that he would be if he were in the New World alone. So have patience, things will all make sense in the end.

In other news, a new blu-ray CD came out for Overlord canon. This revealed information about some of the guild members of Ainz Ooal Gown along with some backstory on the guild itself, how it got started, and how it grew. Some of this information clashes with what I have already come up with as far as this story goes and as a result the pieces in question will be summarily ignored. I will not clarify what portions of information I'm talking about. When we get to the point where it becomes relevant it should be self evident. That's all I have to say on the subject.

Moving on

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Chapter 5

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Momonga had not had a very good day. Or rather, the day had had its ups and downs. When it started he was a frankly below average salesman going through the usual motions at a job that he honestly didn't enjoy. He bowed his head to his superiors, filed paperwork, gathered information to present at the next meeting, and took no joy in any of it, not that he ever did. He knew that it was the day that YGGDRASIL was going to end, and that sucked the motivation and joy out of him even more than his job usually did.

Then he logged in and he had the greatest surprise he had had in a long time. He had sent out e-mails to all of his former comrades in the hopes of getting everyone together one last time on the last day. Despite doing this though he was fairly sure that nobody would respond and that he'd be sitting there alone all night. When not just one but three members showed up and actually stayed to the end… he honestly wasn't sure he could remember the last time he felt so happy. Not since the glory days of the guild, at least. But then things took the weirdest of weird turns.

All four of them stayed to the end, and midnight came and went, but they weren't logged out. They remained in the Throne Room of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

At first they thought it was something explainable, that there was a problem with shutting down the servers. Or that they were hacked, or something else that actually made sense. But the subsequent investigations made it clear that this was nothing so plain.

Now he had taken on the form of his in-game avatar, an undead monster made up of nothing but bones, negative energy, and undying will. In theory anyway. And his friends had apparently been similarly changed into the avatars they used to play YGGDRASIL.

They explored Nazarick, they met the NPCs, they investigated as best they could their current circumstances and tried to make contingency plans regarding what would happen next in this strange situation they found themselves in. They had a massive meeting that went on for hours where they just spun their wheels and made their opinions known. They talked and talked and talked and debated and decided and tried to get things relatively organized.

And that led Momonga to where he was now, sitting in front of a magical mirror scrying the landscape.

He couldn't honestly bring himself to do anything else even though he knew that he probably should be.

A lot of things were brought up in the meeting, and a lot of things were decided. Momonga did not agree to all of them, but as much as he didn't like it that didn't really matter. Ainz Ooal Gown was always a Guild built around group decisions. Every major choice was made by popular vote. With only the four of them currently available to make their thoughts known, a vote with three people behind it would be carried out no matter what the fourth person said or did.

That situation, with three agreeing to something and the fourth being left in the cold, had happened several times the previous evening. Everyone had been shut out at least once, but for all that everything was decided that didn't mean that Momonga liked every decision that was passed.

One of the things that they all agreed on was the division of labor between the four of them now that they had decided to stay in this new world and not look for a way back to earth. Tigris Euphrates would be their eyes on the outside, the one who would actually find out what was out there. Lucifer became their chief of defense, taking control of the forces designed to protect the Great Tomb of Nazarick from all threats. Herohero became something like a minister of the interior, finding out how things worked inside the Great Tomb and making sure that everything ran smoothly no matter what happened. He was supposed to find out who did what and how they did it so that in the event that there was a rebellion they would be able to do the job themselves.

He, Momonga, was to perform experiments in the hopes of finding out what worked here and what didn't. They knew that the magic used in YGGDRASIL worked in this new world for whatever reason. Magic items worked just fine too. But was there anything that didn't work or worked differently? Momonga's job was to find that out.

Of course those were not the only duties that the four of them had taken upon themselves. Herohero was also supposed to make a number of magic items for a number of purposes, filling in critical holes that the NPCs' newly gained… life… opened that weren't there before. Like the need for communication. When they were just plain old robots they didn't really need to communicate with each other. Herohero was supposed to come up with something to remedy that situation before it became a serious issue. Another of his duties was to create a number of items to enable the idea that he and Lucifer had cooked up together for preventing NPC rebellion and to explore what he could do with his item crafting abilities in general that he might not have been able to do in the game.

Some of Momonga's additional duties involved working with Nigredo on the fifth floor to try and scout the surrounding area with magic before they sent in the scouting force led by Tigris Euphrates. This was one of the things that he had disagreed with his comrades about and had been overruled on, the decision to send Tigris out on his own. Momonga believed that they should all go together, but the other three decided that the NPCs would be enough to protect him and that it was reckless to risk all four of them when they didn't know what to expect.

It was frustrating, but if that was what the group decided then that was what the group decided. The best he could do would be to ensure that everyone came out of it okay if things went wrong. So he did his best to assist Nigredo to scout the areas that Tigris was to investigate. But they hadn't found anything particularly dangerous in the forest south of Nazarick. They found goblins, and barghests, and ogres, and treants, and trolls, but nothing that seemed particularly dangerous.

Momonga was dreadfully worried that this was a result of interference. That there were people or things in the forest actively blocking their scrying spells. Hiding from him was fairly easy for someone at the level cap but hiding from Nigredo, a high level NPC who specialized in information gathering magic? That was a very different story. And there was no telling that the ogres and trolls and the like were as weak as they were used to. He was deeply worried that they might be sending Tigris to the wolves.

But he was overruled on that score, three to one. When the man whose safety was on the line voted for the more reckless option what was he supposed to do?

He did the best he could do with the scouting, checking again and again, while Herohero went to the Forge on the tenth floor and Tigris Euphrates studied and slept and Lucifer organized the scouting force that Tigris would lead and ensured that nothing showed up on Nazarick's doorstep without warning.

There were other issues as well, issues without counting. And there would be other meetings down the line where just as much if not more would be discussed.

But that was in the future, right now it was more important to try and safeguard Tigris Euphrates. Earlier in the day he had watched through his Mirror of Remote Viewing as Tigris led the group out of Nazarick and into the forest to the south. Now he used the Mirror to scout ahead for him, desperately searching for the deadly enemies that could very well be lurking behind the next tree. It was kind of difficult to keep track of Tigris himself. Now that there was friendly fire Tigris' anti-detection spells would react to the Mirror and destroy it. The best he could do was watch the areas around the man and try to anticipate where he would go next.

It was far easier said than done, after several hours of careful searching and not encountering anything dangerous Tigris had grown less cautious and was moving around the forest at a high speed with his entourage struggling to keep up.

Momonga knew it was probably pointless. If he and Nigredo hadn't found anything earlier then he most likely wasn't going to find anything now. But he searched anyway, farther and farther ahead of the group led by his friend and farther ahead of the entire scouting force after Tigris called them all in. Who could say for sure how everything worked in this world. Maybe any concealment spells that the forest dwellers used earlier had worn off and he would find something that he didn't before.

But still he refused to leave his post by the Mirror kept scouting, because quite frankly if he stopped and something happened to Tigris he would never forgive himself. Tigris Euphrates was always their greatest scout, always the first one into the fray, always the first into danger, but never when the stakes were this high. And without proof that resurrection was possible there was every chance that death was for keeps. He couldn't let his friend walk into that blind even if said friend agreed to it.

'If he is going to put himself in harm's way for the sake of the rest of us, then it is my duty to make things as safe as possible for him to do so.'

If providing one of his friends with a little bit of forewarning about possible danger required Momonga to sit there with his Mirror all day then that was a price he was all too happy to pay. It was more than worth it. He and Tigris may have disagreed on some things, but that didn't matter for something like this. They had to stick together. They all agreed on that, even Lucifer agreed on that front and he was the kind of guy who would vote a different way and force a deadlock just to be a nuisance. Or at least that was what Momonga remembered him to be like.

That fact, more than anything else, was what really drove home for Momonga just how much their situation had changed. And he wasn't entirely sure what caused it. His guild mates were acting differently than he remembered. It could be a number of things behind that, perhaps they were acting differently because now they weren't playing a game, maybe it was because of their transformation into their game avatars, or maybe it was simply the fact that they had all changed in the two years that he had barely seen them. But regardless of the reason there was no contesting that they were different. Tigris wasn't quite as energetic and full of enthusiasm as he used to be, Herohero was a bit more subdued than he usually was in YGGDRASIL, and Lucifer was a bit less of a massive jackass, he was actually working together with everyone else outside of combat. That was new.

Everything was so similar to how it used to be, but just a little off, it left Momonga with a lot of mixed feelings. But more than anything else he worried about what kind of effects the transformation might have on them.

He glanced at his hand, nothing but bones. In the game he had been an Undead Overlord, a powerful undead spellcaster that sought ultimate magic. After they had been transported to this new world though, he had been changed on a physical and a mental level. He had noticed something wrong with himself ever since the change, the fact that every time he felt emotion beyond a certain threshold it would be automatically dampened and repressed. That was one way that his transformation affected him and it was fairly manageable. At the very least it helped prevent him from running around panicked like he felt like doing sometimes.

'But, if this is the effect that my game avatar has on me, what will it do to the others?'

Herohero, Lucifer, and Tigris Euphrates, none of them played very… nice characters. Momonga hadn't seen anything quite yet that he could definitively point to and say that it was the result of the transformation but there was a very real chance that their changes might not be nearly as smooth and easy to deal with as Momonga's own changes were.

There were so many things that could go wrong. There were so many risks, so many possible disasters that could happen and that was before they even began to consider what this strange new world might throw at them. The stress and worry threatened to overwhelm him.

'And all I have is this dinky little mirror that refuses to work properly!'

He felt the anxiety and irritation in his heart fade as quickly as they came as he continued to try and get the mirror to zoom out. In the game the Mirror of Remote Viewing was managed with an interface, but that interface was nowhere to be seen now. So he had resorted to hand gestures and while he could get the mirror's viewpoint to move around it remained at roughly human head height no matter what he tried. It made searching the forest rather problematic. It made staying ahead of Tigris Euphrates even harder once he really started moving.

The skeleton spared a glance for the corner of the room where he had piled up half a dozen broken Mirrors. Every time Tigris came into view he automatically shattered the thing. Momonga didn't blame him. Tigris was going through completely unknown territory. It would be stupid to deliberately weaken his defenses towards scrying magic just so Momonga could watch him through a Mirror. But it did get annoying how the Mirror's viewpoint couldn't be moved faster than Tigris could run.

But as the irritation with the Mirror faded another issue from the previous evening entered Momonga's thoughts. The NPCs. From what he had seen they were perfect. They acted exactly as their settings said that they should act. They were perfectly loyal to their every whim. To Momonga, someone who had never been shown that kind of respect, it was overwhelming. It made him feel like even though only three of his comrades were actually there that all forty one of them were there in spirit. He had nothing but faith in them. If anything he was worried that the four of them weren't worthy of such loyalty. He just wished that Herohero and Lucifer would agree with him on that point.

Momonga felt another brief moment of irritation and anger before it faded away and left him with the same background feelings that never went away. The two of them were pointlessly paranoid. Did they honestly believe that these glorious creations of their comrades would turn on them?

Evidently they did because they proposed a plan that Momonga really didn't want to agree to, but was forced to go along with anyway. It was the third time that his comrades had ganged up on him after Herohero managed to win Tigris to their side.

Despite his distaste for the idea he couldn't help but feel somewhat awed by it and by proud that they had apparently managed to make it work. It all hinged on Herohero. Herohero had the most levels in non-combat classes amongst the four of them, he was by far the best when it came to item creation and item modification. The idea that Herohero and Lucifer cooked up was to alter the function of a number of Mirrors of Remote Viewing, the same item that Momonga was using to watch the forest, and link the Mirrors to certain objects. The Mirror, once linked, would not act as a medium for a scrying spell the way it was supposed to but would instead show what was being seen and heard by whoever wore the object that was linked to the Mirror.

They took it further by linking the Mirrors to Recording Gems. In game the Gems would act as a medium of data storage for pictures and video taken inside of the game. Once they were linked to the Mirrors they would record what the Mirrors reflected. He heard from Herohero that the Gems would record up to one week's worth of images and sound before the oldest data started getting deleted to be replaced with new stuff.

It was a system that couldn't work in YGGDRASIL. The Mirrors of Remote Viewing couldn't be altered that way to the best of Momonga's knowledge. It was further proof that the abilities they were so familiar with didn't necessarily work the way that they were familiar with.

And it still left a bad taste in his mouth.

Herohero would create the objects that were to be linked to the Mirrors, and Lucifer's job was to ensure that the NPCs wore them. That led to one of Momonga's victories to the other night. Lucifer wanted to create one for every NPC over level ninety, but Momonga managed to get Herohero and Tigris agree with him to limit the number only to the NPCs most likely to rebel. The look on Lucifer's face when everyone turned against him was priceless although it only lasted for an instant. It was only making something bad a bit less bad than it could be, but Momonga still relished the victory.

It was a pity the joy didn't last long. Lucifer was one of the most vindictive individuals he had ever known; he should have expected the payback.

Lucifer's job in the scheme was to ensure that the NPCs to be targeted for surveillance received the 'bugged' item and wore it at all times. All three of them trusted that he could figure out a means to get each one of them to go along with it.

But Lucifer also knew that he, Momonga, wasn't very fond of the idea from the outset, so naturally the first thing Lucifer did was force him to help.

Momonga couldn't feel the weight of items in his inventory, but he could still imagine the cold weight in his hand of the item that Lucifer gave him to plant on a designated target.

'Don't worry Momonga' Lucifer insisted 'It will be as easy as can be. All you have to do is give it to her and ask her to never take it off and that's it. Trust me, she won't suspect a thing. Not if you're the one who gives it to her.'

It was a decision backed by the group, Lucifer's job was to make things work and he decided that the best way to plant this particular item on its particular target was to have Momonga plant it.

But that didn't make Momonga happy to play his part. And he was certain that Lucifer knew exactly what he would think when he was forced into it. Which was probably why Lucifer did it in the first place.

Just because his friends had changed didn't mean that everything had changed.

For Momonga it was a bit much.

'How could Lucifer-san possibly expect me to betray the loyalty and dedication that they all have towards us? How could Herohero-san be so paranoid that he thinks such methods are necessary? How could Tigris Euphrates-san allow himself to get tricked into going along with all of this? It's not right!'

Momonga was torn between the loyalty to the friends that were present and the loyalty to those that weren't there any longer. And he didn't really know what to do.

And that wasn't even the worst betrayal.

The worst betrayal was the one to test all of the systems of Nazarick.

They had discovered that the control systems of Nazarick could be accessed from the Throne Room. Before anyone could access the systems from anywhere but that was no longer the case. Any of the four of them could open the Master Control and manipulate the systems of the Tomb but they could only do it from the Throne Hall. A Guild hall came with a lot of privileges and capabilities. The automatic generation of minions under level thirty, the creation of certain items by spending gold, the activation of certain traps by spending gold, the Mercenary System of calling in temporary forces by spending gold, all of these worked.

But there was one system that had to be checked for the sake of planning the Tomb's defenses and it was the system Momonga was the most worried about. The system that allowed for the resurrection of NPCs by paying gold.

If an NPC died then the Guild could pay gold to resurrect it. If this system worked then they knew that their forces were expendable to a certain degree. If it did not then they had to be all the more careful in future dealings with whatever they found in this world. It was a critical piece of information to have, but there was only one way to get it.

They proposed that the subject of the experiment would be one of the Homunculus Maids that took care of the ninth and tenth floors. In the entire Tomb they were the lowest level NPCs, the ones that would cost the least to bring back. And if the experiment failed then they honestly didn't lose that much. That was the argument that Lucifer made when he made the proposition anyway. And everyone went along with it. Not at first, but after so much discussion they finally agreed with a unanimous vote.

But even though Momonga himself voted for it didn't make it right. He wanted to believe that Herohero and Tigris Euphrates and Lucifer felt the same way about it, that it was wrong but necessary.

Lucifer himself received the 'honor' of actually doing the deed, but that didn't make Momonga feel any less complicit in the act. He couldn't help but feel that he was betraying Whitebrim and Coup de Grace.

'If they show up one day and find one of the maids gone forever what are we going to tell them? It's even worse than what we did with Shalltear and Albedo.'

Shalltear and Albedo, the spying and the testing, it all joined together into an ulcer of worry that had been bothering Momonga all morning.

By all appearances they were alone. He, Lucifer, Herohero, and Tigris Euphrates were the only members of Ainz Ooal Gown here. But nobody knew anything about this place or how it worked. There was every chance that some of the others might have been brought here too. Or that there were other Players out there. Momonga felt that the chance of other Players being out there was high.

That was another issue that made Momonga worry. What would they do if they encountered other Players? It was one of the issues that had to be further discussed, they hadn't come to any real conclusions the previous evening. They were still getting everything taken care of on the domestic front; they hadn't really given much thought as to what they would do if Tigris actually found anything.

"Is there anything wrong Momonga-sama? I stand ready to fulfill your every command."

Momonga's attention was drawn away to the other figure standing in the room with him, Sebas Tian.

He shook his head. "No, there's nothing Sebas, don't worry."

Sebas Tian had insisted that his job was to attend to every need of the Supreme Beings and had insisted that he would stay by Momonga's side. Momonga, for his part, was glad to have him around for a variety of reasons. Working diligently on this task in front of his subordinates would impress them with his can-do attitude and earn their respect. At least that's what Momonga thought would happen. What he hoped would happen.

On top of that, Sebas Tian's presence reminded him of Touch Me. It was good for his morale to have him nearby.

At the same time though it brought his mind right back to the troubles that he couldn't get his mind away from.

Momonga glanced over to Sebas, wondering. Lucifer had named Sebas one of the most likely NPCs to rebel if given the chance due to his personal settings as set by Touch Me. He was one of the most likely to go off on his own and follow his own heart rather than orders. So he was one of the NPCs that were supposed to be bugged. But as Momonga carefully examined the butler's attire he couldn't tell any difference from how he looked before. On the other hand, Momonga had never exactly paid close attention to Sebas Tian before. Until he was reminded on the way to the Throne Hall last night he didn't even remember the butler's name. So he wasn't entirely sure that he would be able to spot a difference in what he was wearing even if there was a change.

'Did Lucifer already get to him? Is Sebas Tian being monitored even now?'

He could just ask of course. If Sebas had received a gift from a Supreme Being he would certainly tell him. But would that spark some kind of curiosity in him? Suspicion? Momonga wasn't sure.

He turned his mind back to the Mirror, determined to unlock its secrets, cursing the fact that it didn't come with a manual.

Desperate to avoid ruminating on the various issues running though his mind any further, Momonga made a twisting gesture in the hopes of a different result. And was amazed when the Mirror suddenly zoomed out. Momonga made a small sound of excited surprise and pride before the clapping registered.

"Congratulations Momonga-sama, your servant Sebas Tian is in awe of your progress."

The skeleton just shook his head. "Honestly when one of the NPCs said something like that it almost felt like they were mocking him. "There's no need to applaud Sebas. Also, I'm sorry for making you stay by my side for so long."

"What are you saying? Staying by your side and obeying your orders is the reason for a butler's existence. Although it is true that this process took some time. Would you like to take a break Momonga-sama?"

As nice as that sounded he couldn't. Tigris was still out there. "There's no need to take a break Sebas. Undead beings like me are not affected by negative statuses like fatigue. However if you're tired you are free to go and rest."

Sebas Tian put one hand to his chest and bowed. "Thank you for your kindness but it would be unthinkable to rest while his Master worked. With the aid of items I too will be untouched by fatigue. So please Momonga-sama allow me to stay by your side until the end."

That was something that Momonga and the others had noticed the previous evening. The NPCs all casually used game terms in their speech. Things like level, job class, negative statuses, and skills. It made talking with them easier but it still felt a little strange to be using game terms in an unironic way.

Acquiescing to Sebas' request he turned back to the Mirror when he realized something was wrong. No, two things were wrong.

The first was that the upper half of the mirror was taken up by short grass rather than massive trees. He had found the other side of the forest. The main thing was that he had no idea where Tigris was.

"[Message}"

Momonga used a spell to make contact with Tigris without hesitation while he used the Mirror to briefly inspect the area on the other side of the forest.

It took a few moments before he finally made contact. Tigris's voice appeared in his mind. "Momonga-san? Is that you?"

The skeleton nodded. "It's me, Tigris Euphrates-san where are you right now?"

It took a moment before his distant friend replied "I think I'm somewhere near the middle of the forest. One of my scouting parties found the southern edge and I headed back the other way before turning west. I gotta tell ya, this place got boring fast. There are monsters sure but none of them are worth a damn. I'm kinda ashamed of myself for being so worried earlier. Anyway we found this village of goblins a little while ago and, well, how I should I put this? We're engaging in some… strong arm negotiation tactics."

Momonga started to get worried. "Strong arm…? You didn't attack them did you?!"

"That's one way to put it."

Worry turned to borderline panic. "I thought we agreed not to do anything rash! We have no idea who or what those goblins report to! They might get mad and strike back!"

Tigris sounded unabashed. "Well there's one way to figure that out isn't there? Hang on, I got their chief right here. Hey! You two! Bring the guy with the headdress over here!"

The Message spell didn't carry any sounds except speech so Momonga was deaf to anything on Tigris' side of the line other than Tigris' own voice. A few moments passed where Momonga contemplated what they might have brought upon themselves before Tigris' voice returned. "Okay, so I got a few questions for ya. First things first, do you report to anybody? Anything out there make it clear that if anybody messes with you they'll kick its ass for you? A goblin king or god or whatever?"

Another few seconds passed. "Um, hang on Momonga, this guy can apparently only talk in syllables so it's taking him a while. And it's not that easy to understand him. Seriously guy, can't you speak in proper sentences?"

Evidently he could not because Momonga was waiting for almost five minutes before Tigris got back to him. "Best as I can tell, he says that he's his own boss and nobody tells him what to do. It's kind of hard to understand him. Still, he's a feisty little guy. Heh, we'll see how long that lasts. Anyway, what are you up to? Find out anything earth shattering while I've been out?"

Momonga suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be doing magical experiments and not trying to safeguard Tigris. And he wasn't entirely sure that Tigris would take it well if he told him that he had been doing his best to watch his back. Would he appreciate the unasked for assistance, or would he get angry? Would he think that he, Momonga, didn't trust him to do his job right without supervision?

The fact that Momonga couldn't honestly say how Tigris would respond hurt more than he thought it would.

So after a moment Momonga finally responded. "No, nothing yet. I haven't found anything that doesn't work the way it used to."

"I see, well that sucks. Hey, maybe you should try the spells that can only work in a game environment rather than straightforward stuff. Isn't there a spell that lets you see the private chat log of another guild if they don't put up safeguards against it?"

"Yeah, there is but I don't have that spell. I don't think anybody here does."

"Oh. Well keep doing your best. I'll get back to the Forest of Snoozeville and try to find anything interesting. I'll see of the Goblin Chief here knows if anything's in charge of the forest and go find out if it's worth our time. Best of luck with the magic Momonga-san."

"Y-yeah, best of luck with the exploration Tigris-san."

Then the Message cut out and Momonga was left looking at the Mirror on his own.

'Well, on the bright side Tigris Euphrates-san seems to be returning to form. He's more energetic than he was before, and not as uptight. That's good.'

It still didn't help but make him feel that he might have wasted the entire morning.

He shook his head. 'No, even if it turned out to be unnecessary I refuse to think that watching out for him was a waste of time.'

So that left two courses of action. Momonga decided unilaterally to go with the second one.

Rather than experiment with magic, he was far more interested in just what these plains held in store. And now that he had found the zoom function on the Mirror it should be much easier to find anything worthwhile.

A little more experimentation with random gestures managed to raise the Mirror's viewpoint even more, and without further ceremony he began to search around.

Much to his surprise it didn't take him that long to find something.

It appeared to be a village, like something out of medieval Europe. It was maybe a mile from the forest, surrounded by fields of wheat. It didn't seem to have much in the way of technology or anything else that would mark it as special.

The curious thing was the fact that the people were running around seemingly without purpose.

He zoomed in, feeling something was amiss.

"Are they having a festival?"

As the viewpoint got closer, the people seemed panicked.

"No, that's no festival."

Momonga looked up, surprised. Sebas Tian had moved closer without him noticing. His steely voice carried an undertone of disgust at what he saw in the Mirror.

He looked closer at the village and what was happening to it. People in rough clothing were running around, chased by figures in heavy armor riding horses. The riders had long cavalry sabers and were cutting what appeared to be the villagers down without hesitation.

It was a massacre.

More knights seemed to be waiting around the perimeter of the village. Judging by the bodies lying nearby them they were there to prevent anyone from escaping the village.

He moved to change the image. There was no purpose in saving this place, it had no value to him. Maybe if he could extract information from it he would intervene, but as things stood there was no point.

'I should abandon them.'

More than anything else though, Momonga was taken aback by how easy it was to come to that decision. A vicious slaughter was happening before his eyes, yet he felt nothing about it. No anger, no anxiety, no fear, no worry, no pity, none of the various emotions that a human would have upon seeing someone else in danger.

It was like watching a nature documentary when predators attacked a prey species. Like he was entirely separate from it.

'Could it be that as one of the undead I no longer consider myself a part of humanity? No, how could that be?'

He struggled to find something to justify this way of thinking.

He was no agent of justice.

He was level one hundred, as strong as someone could get in YGGDRASIL. But there was nothing saying that the people of this world weren't of the same level. He couldn't tread blindly into this new world. On top of that there was nothing saying that there wasn't a good reason behind these events. There might be a war on, the village might be infected by plague, there were numerous other possible reasons. And if nothing else, if he were to intervene he might very well make an enemy out of the country the knights were loyal to.

Momonga reached up to scratch at his skull as he continued to watch. Could it be that now that he was an Undead being, something immune to mental attack, he was no longer affected by scenes like this?

'No, definitely not.'

He changed the viewpoint of the Mirror, looking around at various scenes as he pondered the conundrum before him.

The skeleton watched as two knights pulled a violently struggling villager off of a third knight and held him still as the third knight got to his feet and ran the villager through. The blow was certainly fatal, but the knight seemed to think otherwise as he struck the villager several more times before the other two knights let him fall to the ground.

As the villager, a man, blond, blue eyed, fell to his back on the ground and vomited forth frothy blood, he seemed to lock eyes with Momonga.

'Impossible.' It was impossible, nobody could detect the Mirror without magic.

But the man laid there on the ground and seemed to say something.

He seemed to say 'please save my daughter.'

'Ludicrous.' Momonga couldn't help but think that the entire idea was absurd. There was no way that the villager could see the Mirror's viewpoint, no way that he could possibly be talking to him. He moved the viewpoint to look at another part of the village.

Sebas looked at the same scene and asked him "What are your plans?"

Momonga was quiet for a long moment as he continued to look upon the slaughter. He finally replied, his voice cold. "Nothing. There is no reason, benefit, or value in saving them."

Sebas was quiet for a moment that seemed to drag on forever before he finally nodded. "Yes sir."

But Momonga continued to look at Sebas Tian, the NPC that one of his fellow guild mates made to look just like himself. "This… Touch Me-san."

Momonga remembered something, the words of an old friend

-Saving someone in trouble is common sense.

When Momonga began playing YGGDRASIL, hunting Heteromorphic players was a common practice. As a result Momonga the Skeleton Mage was PK'd countless times. That happened again and again until he was saved by Touch Me, and saved by those words. It was that incident that stopped Momonga from quitting the game back then. It was those words that kept him there.

A strange calm settled over him when he remembered that. It was a difficult decision, made more difficult by the fact that he couldn't exactly poll his friends for what they thought they should do. But he wanted to think that they'd agree with him if they were here. He wanted to believe that they'd say to save that village, all forty of them.

'Touch Me-san always said that if the situation was tough then it was only natural for a man to take up his sword and help. Well, this situation looks pretty tough. Both of them.'

Finally he said to Sebas "A man must always show gratitude. Anyway, sooner or later I would have to confirm my abilities in this world."

He got to his feet and manipulated the Mirror to show him the surviving villagers. He settled on a scene where two girls were running towards the forest, a knight in hot pursuit.

"Sebas, tell Lucifer-san to have the alert level of Nazarick raised to the highest. I will go ahead first, notify Albedo that she should follow me fully armed. Then go and prepare some backup troops. We have to prepare for any unforeseen events which may render me unable to escape so prepare some people with stealth abilities in case we need to deal with enemies in this village."

Sebas looked taken aback for a moment before he replied "Yes Milord, but protecting Momonga-sama was the duty that was passed on to me."

Momonga raised an eyebrow at that, or he would if he had eyebrows. "Who gave you that kind of order…. Those knights are razing that village, which means that there may be knights capable of attacking Nazarick nearby. So you must stay behind."

If those Knights were level one hundred, there was no telling what might happen. Plus, deep down he didn't want Sebas to come with him. He might have to run if the Knights were too strong, and he didn't want to show Sebas the pitiful figure of his Master running away from battle.

He reached into his inventory and pulled out his Staff. It was a six foot long monstrosity that appeared to be made out of a massive spinal cord. All along the length of the spine it was adorned with gems and pieces of gold that were all held in piece with net-like sinew. This continued until one neared the head of the staff where it seemed to thicken and change into thick, slick looking black skin. This skin swelled until it reached the head of the staff where it seemed that an actual head was located, bald, eyes bulging, mouth wide open in a silent scream.

The Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown was down in the Treasury. They all agreed that it was dangerous to leave it unguarded and that it was dangerous to keep it in active use since there was no guarantee that the rules about Guild Weapons had changed.

This was the staff that Momonga typically used when he was playing the game. He felt very proud of the name that he gave it, he went to a foreign language translator to help find the wording for it.

'Hope Springs Infernal'

But for whatever reason he couldn't figure out why people kept laughing whenever they heard it.

Dismissing the vague notion from his mind he reached out in front of him. "[Portal]"

It was one of the greatest transportation spells in the game, no limit on distance, no chance of teleportation mishaps. The only downside was that it could only transport one person at a time, but that's what you get from a Ninth Tier spell.

His staff in hand, Momonga boldly went forth into the darkness.

XXXXXXXXX

Tigris Euphrates ended the call with Momonga and took stock of the world around him. The goblins' village was made up of a few dozen crude huts built into and around a copse of massive trees growing around a pond. Said trees and huts were now merrily burning, the goblins similarly torched, hacked to pieces or both. Everyone had a grand time smashing things up.

That had been the way things had gone all day. About twenty minutes after he had ordered the group to split up he had encountered his first monster. It was a Barghest, a horned dog that had magical chains wrapped around its body. The creature was done in with a single blow from his sword. When the next two encounters with the wildlife went the same way he grew more bold and ordered Mare into the forest.

After that it was a long string of disappointments. Tigris honestly couldn't find anything worth a damn. No treasure worth the name, no intelligent species, nothing. Just a parade of Barghests, tigers, bears, trolls, ogres, and a pair of Manticores. He kept in touch with the other squads and while they had found monsters they never found anything that was actually worth talking about.

When the highlight of your day is finding a village of goblins… that's just sad.

He admitted that he may have been a bit overzealous. Being so tense for so long demanded some form of release. When he had spotted the village he didn't hesitate and stormed in like a tempest, hacking and slashing and burning away. By the time his entourage of followers caught up the battle, if it could be called that, was practically over.

Tigris looked down at one of the handful of survivors. The Goblin Chief was the same as his brethren in many ways. Small, green skinned, huge ears, ugly. The only difference between him and the others was that the Chief was a few inches taller, a bit heavier on muscle, wielded an shortsword made of forged metal rather than stone, and he wore a crude headdress of feathers and bits of bone. The Chief was currently being held upright by a pair of Eight Edge Assassins, the other surviving goblins were huddled into a crowd where three as-yet-unburned trees formed a little cul-de-sac and watched by the rest of his followers. There were only about two dozen goblins left, all of them bearing at least one injury. The Chief was in the best shape by far.

"So…" Tigris squatted down so he could look the Chief in the eyes, savoring the sweet scent of burning wood and the roar of the nearby flames. "You say you're your own man huh? You don't report to anyone? Fine. But I have another question for you, who's in charge around here? Who runs this forest? There any elves around here? Legendary beasts? There has to be some kind of alpha predator around here somewhere."

The Chief hacked and spat out a gobbet of blood near Tigris's shoes. One of the Eight Edge Assassins lowered a blade to rest near the Chief's throat. They already had orders not to kill him, otherwise the Chief would have lost his head right then if the way the Assassin was shaking in fury was any indication.

Tigris just smiled a big toothy smile. He reached over and put one finger just underneath one of the goblin's pointy ears. The thing would probably bite him if it weren't for the blade at his throat. With a thought and a little bit of mana he activated his racial ability to create fire. A flame roared to life at his fingertip like an acetylene torch and the Chief screamed in pain and reared back at the heat.

He held the little blue flame at the goblin's ear as flesh singed and burned and turned black, his smile gone, his eyes cold. Finally he willed the flame to go out and laid his arms across his knees. Tigris just sat there on his heels and admired the way the sparks of the burning trees were carried in the wind until the little guy finally stopped screaming, one ear a half burned remnant.

After a few moments of listening to the Chief's heavy breathing, Tigris went on. "Now then, let's try this again. Who is in charge of this forest, and where can I find him? If you still feel like being a pain in the ass-" he reached over and put his index finger under the goblin's other ear "then we do this ear next. Then we move on to fingers and toes. So how about you tell me what I want to know and maybe I'll let you go?"

It took another minute and the feeling of Tigris' finger starting to heat up before the Goblin Chief started to speak. It was hard to understand him since he could apparently only vocalize one syllable at a time. But with enough patience he could be understood.

After several long minutes Tigris managed to make sense of what the Chief was saying.

He rose up to his full height and dusted imaginary dirt off of his pants. "Okay, I understand. Thank you for your cooperation." He looked to the Assassin with the blade at the Chief's throat and nodded. "He's all yours."

With a chittering howl of joy the insectoid creature lopped the Goblin Chief's head from his shoulders.

Tigris looked over to the other Assassins and the two Liches. "All of you, get away from the goblins!"

The creatures of Nazarick hurried to obey, leaving the goblins confused as to their sudden unguarded state. They didn't have long to ponder why they were left alone as Tigris raised a hand toward them. He wasn't much of a spellcaster. He wasn't much dedicated to magic at all. But his choice of Racial Class gave him some benefits and that came with magical ability. That mostly meant a whole bunch of fire magic. "[Eruption]!"

The goblins screamed as the ground below them became hotter than the fires on their houses and they tried to run to safety, but they were far too late. The ground exploded and sent molten rock in all directions as a plume of liquid fire flew a hundred feet into the air. Even the fastest of the goblins were far too close and were summarily roasted.

Tigris Euphrates looked upon the scene without emotion. It wasn't much but it got the job done. 'Not bad for an Eighth Tier AoE spell.' Truth was it was about the best he could do.

They were only goblins, nobody would care. And on top of that he couldn't be sure that the Chief wasn't lying when he said that nobody was looking after them. If the Chief was lying then it was better to leave no survivors.

But as he looked up at where the plume of magma had set the trees on fire he realized that he might have been a little overzealous.

He ordered the two Liches with his party to put out the flames as he used the [Message] spell to get in contact with the people in charge of the expedition.

"Can everybody hear me?"

A chorus of affirmatives came across the line.

"Good. Now listen up, I just got some information from one of the locals about who runs this place. There are four places worth mentioning. The first is something called the Beast of the South, which does its best to kill anything that sets foot in its territory. Aura!"

"Yes Tigris Euphrates-sama!"

"I want you to head down there and find this thing. You're a Beast Tamer so you should be the best for the job. Keep in mind that we don't know how powerful this thing is, so be careful. I don't want you to fight it right now, just get a feel for how strong it is and find out where it likes to sleep. We'll handle him another day."

"As you command Tigris Euphrates-sama."

"Next up is something called the Serpent of the West. Mare!"

"Y-yes Tigris Euphrates-sama."

"I want you to take your group over to the west and find this thing. Same as Aura, find it, find out how strong it is, don't approach it. Keep in mind that it's supposed to be leading a bunch of other monsters so be careful. I'm afraid that I don't know exactly where it likes to hang out so you might have to do some searching."

"Y-yes sir."

"Number three on our list is something called the Giant of the East. It supposedly lives in a cave near a withered forest east of here. Solution Epsilon! Lupusregina Beta!"

"Yes Tigris Euphrates-sama?"

"You want us to find that thing huh~?"

"I see that Lupusregina is paying attention, good. You have it exactly right. Find it, figure out how strong it is, how strong its followers are, where it likes to sleep, same as the others."

"The last thing this Goblin mentioned is a legendary monster that supposedly lives in the northern end of the forest. I'll be going after that myself. There's no guarantee that it actually exists but if it does then it's probably not very far from Nazarick. If there's something that nasty living that close to us then we have to know about it. Is everyone clear about what they're supposed to do?"

Numerous versions of 'yes sir' made their way to his ears.

"Good, then get to it, dismissed." And with that he ended the call.

Tigris brought two fingers to his lips and let out a loud whistle, immediately gathering the attention of everything that came with him. "I'm sure you all heard that, so let's go. We're heading north to see whether or not this 'legendary world eating monster' really exists or not."

He didn't wait for them as he sped forward, heading north. He couldn't help but smile now that he maybe had a lead on something interesting. It was a shame that it wasn't anything intelligent that he could negotiate with, but a 'legendary world eating monster' was certainly enough to make up for all the boredom thus far.

'I just hope it isn't anything that I can't handle. I'll have to play it cautious until I know for sure.'

The Eight Edge Assassins and the Liches hurried after him, riding on beasts and flying through the air, leaving the extinguished village behind them.

XXXXXXXXX

Herohero slipped down the marble halls of the ninth floor carefully carrying a still figure. 'The entire world has gone mad'.

Everything went crazy only minutes ago.

The day started fine, he had gotten plenty of work done, plenty of items made. Lucifer had… done what he had agreed to do. But then something happened and everybody was scrambling to prepare for imminent attack.

And he was in charge.

It was a familiar feeling and an unfamiliar feeling all at once. He was used to being in charge, but it was new to have his subordinates actually listen to him for once.

But that was unimportant right now, what mattered now was getting his cargo to the Throne Hall.

'I really hope this works.'

He silently regarded the still form of the maid as he carried her bridal style down the stairs. Lucifer had sent him a Message telling him that the deed had been done, but then proceeded to tell that he was leaving to go after Momonga and had cut off the conversation without another word.

'What on earth is going on around here? What happened to working together!? What the heck is Momonga-san doing? What the heck is Lucifer-san doing? The world has gone mad! More than it already has!'

Herohero had immediately given the control of the defenses over to Demiurge and Shalltear. He was sure that the two of them could handle whatever it was long enough for him to finish the most crucial experiment thus far. He felt nervous, he felt fearful, he felt worried, he felt vaguely tired, but more than anything else he felt hungry.

He had no stomach but if he did it would surely be rumbling. Hunger just seemed to be a fact of life now. No matter how much he ate he was never full. A Ring of Sustenance helped but that only provided so much. It only took the edge off the feeling, it didn't make it completely go away.

Of course he kept that to himself as best he could. There was only so much food in Nazarick and he had no doubt that the NPCs would give him as much as he asked for. He just had a sneaking suspicion that everything they had wouldn't be enough and he refused to pointlessly deplete Nazarick's food stores like that.

The slime slithered down the corridor to the Throne Hall as fast as he could, growing another tendril to push the grand door open and let him through. He had been getting better at that, controlling multiple appendages at once. Still hadn't managed actual speech though.

He glanced around the Hall as he made his way to the Throne at one end but he saw no sign of Albedo anywhere. She must be somewhere else, managing something or other. He felt kind of bad. A big part of his job was to keep an eye on her, and she certainly had to be watched, but he had just been so _busy_. It was annoying but at the same time it was familiar. It was almost like being back in the office.

Herohero laid the girl at the foot of the dais before the Throne before moving up to and claiming the great crystalline chair for himself.

He didn't need to breathe, but if he did he would probably be holding his breath as he opened the Master Control. It appeared just like the interface in YGGDRASIL, a transparent blue screen with numerous tabs and options. He quickly moved past immense amounts of information to get to the tab that would allow him to do what he wanted to do. He scrolled down the roster of Nazarick's NPCs until he found the blank space where this maid was supposed to be. Full of trepidation, hoping against hope, he selected that blank space and activated the function to resurrect the maid.

He waited one second, two, three, but nothing happened. Then a screen popped up displaying a massive red 'X' and his heart dropped into his shoes. He had neither heart nor shoes but that didn't stop the feeling.

It didn't work.

Words could not describe how much this affected future operations. Horror welled up inside of him at that thought, the idea that one chance might well be all they had against everything this strange place might throw at them. It was made worse by the possibility of the imminent attack that Momonga had apparently warned about. Almost as bad was the thought of what would happen if Coup de Grace actually came back. That maid had been one of his, what would he think of all of this?

Worse than anything else was the feeling of uncleanness that rose up through his body as he looked at the bleeding figure on the floor and realized that he had been at least partially responsible for this.

'I voted for this, I let this happen. What will the NPCs think? What will Coup de Grace-san think if he comes back now?'

The mound of midnight ooze seemed to slink forward, two tendrils emerging to rest just above his 'eyes'.

'What have I done?'

Before he could sink any further into despair however he noticed the small red text underneath the massive 'X'.

'Insufficient funds?'

How could that be? The Treasury was massive and had more than enough gold to bring back a level two NPC ten thousand times over.

It didn't take long to figure out the issue. 'Could it be that the gold used for the resurrection actually has to be here?'

That wasn't the way it was in YGGDRASIL. In the game the costs for actions like this would be automatically removed from the Treasury. But if it was different now….

Hope welled up inside of him as he slopped forward off the throne and slid across the floor until he stood in front of the prone maid. She was pretty, with long blonde hair with red highlights and pale skin, she reminded him almost of a fairy tale. Wasn't there a western fairy tale that involved a sleeping woman? He knew that there was but he couldn't place the name off the top of his head. It wasn't important.

Herohero opened his item box and retrieved gold coins, letting them spill onto the floor. Before long a pile of five hundred thick engraved coins piled on top of the maid's still torso. He hurried back to the Throne and found his way back to the resurrection tab.

Two tendrils grew from his mass and crossed as he activated the resurrection function again, hoping against hope that this would work. If it didn't…

More than anything he wanted to make a wide grin as he saw the numerous coins begin to melt. He watched as the coins liquefied and began to flow around the maid's prone form, slithering across her skin and sinking into it and disappearing. He watched with baited breath, not that he had lungs, as the final droplets of golden liquid vanished inside of her.

Several long moments passed.

When she finally opened her eyes, it was everything he could do not to cheer.

So much of the worry that had built up in his heart vanished as he saw the maid come to her senses. He leapt from the Throne and he couldn't stop himself from shaking. This opened up so many doors, ensured that they wouldn't ever be bereft of their creations as long as they had enough gold to pay for them, it was a fantastic day!

He watched as she sat up and rubbed at her eyes, looking around without a clue.

'It can be very stressful to wake up in an unknown place. I have to make sure she's okay.' He quickly slid across the floor towards her. On top of that, there was an important question that still had to be answered.

Speech was still beyond him, he hadn't really had any time to practice. Instead, he activated the necklace that Tigris gave to him where it rested within his mass and communicated to the maid telepathically. "Are you alright? How do you feel?"

She shook her head, clearly confused. He didn't blame her. After a few moments of thought she looked at him again and went wide eyed. "H-Herohero-sama? Oh dear, where am I? What happened? I'm so sorry for causing you any kind of trouble Master, please allow me to-"

He reached up with a tendril and placed it on her shoulder and she immediately stopped talking. "Please, relax miss. Its okay, you're not in trouble. You're in the Throne Hall, you're here because I just resurrected you. Something happened that resulted in your death. Can you tell me what that was? Can you tell me what happened?"

A lot hinged on her answer, and not for the first time he was glad he didn't have sweat glands.

The maid, he honestly didn't know her name, pursed her lips as she looked down at the floor, deep in thought.

After several moments though she shook her head and let out a small sigh. "I'm sorry Herohero-sama, but I'm afraid I don't remember anything."

Herohero couldn't sigh in relief, but he dearly wanted to after hearing that. It was kind of disappointing, but at the same time nobody would question what had really happened here. It wasn't perfect, but he was willing to take what he could get.

That was when he noticed the tears starting to form in the girl's eyes.

She ducked down under his tendril and knelt down until her forehead touched the floor. "I'm sorry Herohero-sama, I'm dreadfully sorry that I'm so incompetent that I can't remember anything! Please, don't hesitate to bestow whatever punishment you see fit upon this worthless servant of yours!"

He looked down at the maid prostrating herself before him, and even though he didn't have a throat he felt like he had a lump in his. Herohero was never particularly good with women. He had no idea what to say to get one to stop crying. And she certainly was crying, tears quietly falling to the floor beneath her as she quietly awaited whatever it was he decided to do to her.

As difficult as it was, he took his best guess as to what would work. He extended a tendril and gently placed it on her shoulder. "Please, please relax. You are not incompetent, you are not worthless, and you are certainly not going to be punished. You did nothing wrong so please, stand up and dry your tears."

He extended the tendril under one arm and gently tugged her up and to her feet. The ooze slithered back a bit as she stood at her full height and he found himself looking _up_ at her instead of the other way around. Herohero wasn't sure what to say so he kept his silence as the maid got a handkerchief from some pocket at her waist and started drying her eyes.

One thing he did notice was that what he thought were red highlights or dye was actually blood crusted in her hair. It only made everything more uncomfortable.

Unsure of what to do next, he swallowed and started up the telepathic communication again. "Um, pardon me. While I know that you don't remember exactly what happened, could you tell me the last thing you do remember?"

The maid started at the sound of his voice, but then immediately snapped to attention with the handkerchief hidden behind her back. "Yes Herohero-sama! The last thing I remember is… let's see… I woke up this morning and then I looked at the duty roster and saw that I was to clean Lucifer-sama's room to-" she gasped at some realization. "I was supposed to clean Lucifer-sama's room today! Oh dear, I'm so behind, he's going to be so angry at me!"

Herohero jumped in when he saw the maid start to panic again. "Relax! Please relax! Nobody's going to be angry at you miss, rest assured. If need be I'll talk to Lucifer-san myself to make sure."

That got her to stop panicking for a moment, good.

Then she started bowing again. Not so good.

"Would you truly do that for me? Oh, thank you Herohero-sama, thank you! I'm so sorry that you have to watch out for a worthless, ugly servant like myself."

He moved in to stop her before she rambled on, distinctly uncomfortable with how everything was going. "Yes, of course, now please stop bowing. Please, stand up straight." He watched as the maid tentatively rose to her full height once more, unshed tears still sparkling in her eyes.

"There you go. Now, I'm sorry to cut this short but I do have other things to do. You've clearly been through a lot, so please, go back to your dorm and take a shower, clean yourself up. You'll feel better. Then feel free to take the rest of the day off."

He reared back as the maid suddenly shook her head. "B-but Herohero-sama, I could never do something like take the day off! Think of all the work that needs to be done, Lucifer-sama's room won't clean itself!"

'I really wish I had help for this, I'm really not good at this sort of thing. I really wish that I actually looked at the tab and found out what her name was. Why won't she just relax and stop being so formal?' For Herohero it was the strict formality that bothered him more than anything else. That and the unquestioning obedience. The idea that he could order a beautiful woman to do whatever he wanted was… more than a little bit intimidating. It was an alien thought.

"Don't worry about Lucifer-san's room. I'll make sure he understands. Besides, I'm sure that he has enough work to do that someone trying to clean his room right now would only bother him so you're probably doing a bigger service by leaving him alone. Understand?"

She bowed low again. Dammit why won't she stop doing that? "Yes, I understand Herohero-sama. It's only fitting that a mere maid like me wouldn't be able to divine the thoughts and feelings of a Supreme Being. Very well, I shall do as Herohero-sama commands and go clean myself up. Is there anything else that you require Master?"

Relief suffused his being and he viciously fought off the instinct to show his relief. "No, there's nothing else that I need right now thank you. So please, go, you deserve it."

She bowed lower for a moment before rising. "Very well Herohero-sama, as you command." With the parting words spoken she turned around and gently moved out of the room.

He watched her like a hawk as she walked, watching for any possible fault. Something that the resurrection system might have missed, wooziness, nausea, anything. When he didn't see anything wrong relief suffused his being once more, made even more potent when the pretty maid finally left the room and closed the door behind her.

The freedom from the awkward conversation was almost enough to let himself fall into a puddle again. He managed to avoid that, thankfully, but he still sort of slumped.

'Okay, that was awkward. But we have the answers we need. The system works, we can resurrect the NPCs without fear. On the downside they don't seem to remember anything prior to their demise.'

Of course it was impossible to say that this was the case for every individual. It may be that just this one maid had the memory issues. It would take more attempts at this experiment to say for sure.

But if the sentient pile of midnight sludge was certain of anything it was that he wouldn't let more experiments like this one be conducted. Once was enough. No. Once was too much.

'Lucifer-san might try to insist that we carry out more testing before we say anything for sure but if he does I'll fight him every step of the way. We are NOT doing this again.'

With fresh conviction in his heart he looked up at the ceiling. He knew what was up there. Right at that moment Demiurge and Shalltear were preparing the upper levels of the Tomb for combat. Momonga reported a possible attack so everyone was scrambling.

As much as Herohero wanted to just sit back and let the NPCs handle the situation, he knew he couldn't do it. If something was threatening the home of his Guild then he would go and defend it. He started switching out his rings, removing one to replace it with a Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown. As he did so Herohero stared up at the ceiling once more.

'I have no idea where you two went. My best guess is that Tigris found something and you're off to help him. I really wish you told me so that I could join in. Whatever it is I hope you guys get it. Take your time, I'll make sure to take care of things on the home front while you're gone so have no fear. I just hope you all come back soon and unharmed'

With that thought in mind he activated the Ring and sent himself high up above. He was the only one home, so it fell to him to defend Nazarick in his friends' absence. And he had no intention of failing that all-important task.

If anyone wanted to get into the Great Tomb of Nazarick then they had a nasty surprise coming.

XXXXXXXXX

They were near the outskirts of the village, heading towards the Great Forest to the north. They ran as swiftly as they could, as though their lives depended on it. Not so hard to do when one's life truly did depend on it.

Enri Emmot tried to keep her head down as she pulled her sister along behind her, blinking the smoke from her eyes as the homes around her burned, desperately trying to keep her balance as she ran, her long skirt flapping around her ankles.

'Why? Why did this happen? What did we do to deserve this?'

It had started off as such a normal, peaceful, boring day in Carne Village. She got up early just like always, took her family's buckets to the well to get water for the day just like always, and intended to help make breakfast with her mother just like always. It was a normal, quiet morning as everyone got up and prepared for the day's work in the fields. Weeds had to be plucked, fertilizer scattered, birds kept away, firewood gathered and chopped and stored, tools repaired, there was no end to the chores. It was almost harvest season and everyone had to get everything done quickly because with harvest season came the typical annual battle with the Empire. Most of their men would be hauled off to E-Rantel to be forced to act as soldiers for a few weeks, and then the survivors would come home just in time to miss all the hard work of the harvest, forced to watch a large portion of their crop go to waste simply because there weren't enough people to harvest it in the time they had.

It all seemed so pointless now.

Everything changed when they heard the sound of numerous horses riding hard. Nobody knew what to expect when they saw the riders on the horizon, but that soon changed as the first arrows plunged through the sky and the horses galloped through the square without warning or reason. It was all Enri could do to run when she saw the armored riders cutting down anyone who got too close, dismounting to break down the doors of houses to get at those who hid inside, and setting fires when a door proved too thick.

None of the issues she had thought about or dealt with through her life seemed to matter much when she ran home and joined her family only to find the knights right behind her. When she saw her father's friend Mr. Morja the carpenter cut down as he tried to run away all she could do was stare at the flood of red and scream. When her mother was struck through the neck by an arrow as they ran down the street all she could do is stare dumbly at the sight of her falling like a puppet with its strings cut. When her father pushed her and little sister Nemu into a nearby alley and told her to run while he bought them time it was all she could do to run and try not to listen to the sounds that echoed from the road she left behind. All that mattered was getting to safety, of getting her sister to safety. She couldn't hope to do anything else. Who could?

She couldn't help but laugh at herself, in her own mind, at the ignorant girl whose only problem was wondering how to fill the family's water tank even faster. At the girl who silently wondered just how long these unchanging days could go on. She had her answer now.

'Only a little bit further now. Once we're out of the village, it's just a quick sprint to the forest. We can hide there until the Knights leave.'

That was when she heard a rhythmic thumping behind her and she felt her heart turn to ice. A quick glance backward only made it worse.

A knight was running after them. Thankfully he was on foot or else he would have caught them already.

With the sight of the inevitable before her, her body decided to report all the issues that had accumulated since the attack began, all the reasons that said running was a waste of time.

But it didn't matter.

It didn't matter how hard she was breathing, it didn't matter how hard her heart was pounding, it didn't matter how much her legs shook, it didn't matter how much her feet ached, it didn't matter how much her lungs burned and her eyes stung from the smoke.

All that mattered was getting away, all that mattered was getting her sister away.

She spared a glance for her little sister as she desperately tried to pick up the pace. She was only ten, with the dark auburn hair of their mother rather than their father's blonde hair that Enri had inherited. She was so quiet now, immediately obeying her older sister, trusting her with both their lives.

Enri pulled little Nemu along behind her as she sprinted for the only possible shelter, but another glance backward showed that she wasn't making putting any distance between herself and her pursuer. He easily kept pace with them even in heavy armor, the difference between the physique of a trained soldier and some farmer girl. The question was who could keep running longer.

Her shaking legs made that answer plain. She couldn't keep this up, not for long. Enri tried to ignore the icy feeling that knowledge gave her.

The two sisters kept running and the well worn dirt pathways of the village gave way to the grass of the surrounding countryside. The forest was less than half a mile away. But that small distance seemed like it was worlds away for all the good it did the two of them.

Enri spared another glance down to her sister as poisonous thoughts welled up within her. Thoughts about how she might be able to escape if she let go. Thoughts about how Nemu would distract the knight long enough to gain some distance and how it would be easier to run if she didn't have to pull Nemu along.

She shook her head, desperate to clear away such worthless thoughts. She couldn't leave her sister behind, getting Nemu away from this madness was the only thing that really mattered.

Enri Emmot simply had nothing else.

'How badly must she be suffering even now? She knows what happened to mother and father, she saw the same things I did. And how badly must this run be affecting her if I'm this winded?'

Enri, at least, was wearing shoes. Nemu was at home when it all started and ended up having to run away barefoot. That would be a big problem in the forest. Assuming they got to the forest.

The sound of the knight getting closer made it clear that thinking about such issues was a waste of time.

That was when Nemu tripped.

Enri's heart almost stopped, but Nemu held on hard to Enri's hand and managed to steady herself. Unfortunately it still made her older sister falter. It was only for a second or two, but it was more than enough time for the knight to close the distance.

She felt nothing but cold as she watched the knight close in. The sword in his hand was splattered with blood. More of the red fluid covered his helmet and breastplate, staining the insignia of the Baharuth Empire enameled on his breast.

The knight's voice was a low rumble, not possessing any particular emotion.

"Don't bother struggling, I'll make it quick."

He never even broke his stride as he raised his sword for the killing blow.

Time almost seemed to slow as Enri took in the sight of the sun glinting on the crimson steel.

'Don't bother struggling?'

'Just give up?'

'Who ever got anywhere by doing THAT!?'

There was only one possible chance.

She curled her hands into tight fists, fingers folding her thumbs against her palms.

The village girl launched herself forward, screaming as loud as she could, and drove her fist into the bastard's helmet as hard as she could.

She winced at the cracking sound that rang out as the knight fell back, tears beaded up in her eyes at the pain that ran up her thumb and across her knuckles. But that was fine, that's what she got for punching a steel helmet.

No time was wasted grabbing Nemu and running for the forest. "Run!"

Three things happened at once.

The first was Nemu faltering after only a few steps, hissing out in pain and falling to her knees.

The second was a loud cry from behind her. "You little bitch!"

The third was the line of fire that seemed to erupt along her back.

Both sister struck the ground and gave little gasps of pain.

'Oh he's angry.' She idly thought to herself as she looked up at the knight. Maybe it was from being knocked down by a mere village girl?

The odd sense of clarity aside, she had a hard time coming up with anything to do. The line of fire on her back and the radiating pain from her hand seemed far more important than anything else. She briefly noted the fresh crimson on the tip of knight's sword.

It was the sight of the knight getting ready for a second swing that brought her back to her senses. She immediately dragged Nemu to her chest and turned to shield her.

It was a slim chance but it was still a chance.

She pushed her little sister forward towards the forest. "Run Nemu!"

Maybe, just maybe, the act of killing her would slow the knight down long enough for Nemu to have a fighting chance of making it to the forest.

It was Enri's only hope. It was already over for her, she knew that, but maybe, hopefully, it was possible to give Nemu a chance to get out of this.

Her hopes were dashed as Nemu took off and didn't make it two steps before crying out and falling again.

'Why?'

Time seemed to slow as she watched her sister fall for no apparent reason. Why? Could not even one tiny scrap of hope be preserved against this evil?

That was when things completely stopped making sense.

A dark oval ripped itself into reality between Nemu and the forest.

Enri had no knowledge of magic. A friend of hers knew a bit so it could be said that she knew the basics of the basics about what it could do, but she knew nothing about anything that could cause this.

Before anything else could be said or done, a figure calmly stepped out of the black space and the last embers of hope died.

Death had come for her.

It stood somewhere between five and a half and six feet tall. A skeleton in pitch black robes that looked like they had been carved from the night sky and wielding a staff too horrible to look upon, radiating menace and hatred.

She felt her sanity start to slip at the very idea that something like this could be happening.

Had her ceaseless struggling delayed her own death so long that death himself had shown up to collect? The teenage girl couldn't even begin to make sense of what was happening. All that she felt was a numb despair, icy cold fear enveloping her entire body, and the feeling of wanting Nemu to escape.

On the bright side, the knight hadn't slashed her yet.

Death incarnate looked straight at her. No, he looked straight at what was behind her. She risked a glance back and saw the knight that had been pursuing them seemingly frozen, sword raised to strike.

She glanced back at the figure as he forcefully raised one hand and she flinched as he closed it.

"[Grasp Heart]"

A strangled sound made its way from the knight behind her and she glanced back just in time to see him falter, falling to his knees as he made that same half gasp half gurgle that he made before as he fell forward onto the grass and moved no more.

Strangely enough it didn't affect Enri that much to see all of this.

'Heh, I guess once you get to a certain point you can't get any more scared.'

That one lucid thought almost made her want to laugh as she looked at the knight that was so easily slain, the terror that had her running for her life so easily brushed aside and replaced by something so much worse.

She caught sight of another leaving one of the houses at the outskirts of the village before he turned towards her. She saw him stop as he caught sight of the abomination that had come for her.

The monstrous figure started walking forward, and she scrambled to crawl out of its way.

A strange gratitude entered her heart. She was grateful towards the second knight. While he distracted the monstrosity, maybe, just maybe she could get away with her sister.

Enri feebly crawled towards her prone sibling, ignoring the blaring pain in her hand. Her heart wrenched when she saw how Nemu had curled into a ball rather than face the horror that came out of nowhere to end them all.

She gently put one hand on her sister's shoulder as she heard the abomination say something to the knight behind her. It broke her heart the way her little sister curled up even further at her touch. She whispered as quietly as she could "Nemu, here's our chance. Can you run?"

Nemu didn't open her eyes, she just shook her head as tears ran down her cheeks. Before Enri could ask what was wrong Nemu tentatively stuck one trembling foot out into the air. Enri gasped as she saw the sight.

Blood ran freely down a long gash along the front of the big toe, the nail was split jaggedly down the middle almost to the point that it was evenly cracked in half.

Enri wracked her brain trying to figure out when this happened and quickly came to one conclusion. 'When she stumbled when the knight was chasing us, did she kick a rock or something?'

'Well, one more reason why not to go running around the fields barefoot.'

Before her addled thoughts could lead her further away from the issue she heard what sounded like a loud crack of thunder and she turned to see the abomination once more, standing over the corpse of the unfortunate knight.

'Unfortunate? Ha, they slaughter everyone I know and I think they're unfortunate. Maybe that's just human nature to join together and feel sympathy when faced with monsters like this?' The knight looked almost black underneath his armor and Enri could smell the stench from where she knelt beside her sister. Surely no one deserved to die so horribly?

Two more things happened one after another.

The monstrosity chanted some words Enri couldn't hear and a black fog descended from nowhere to envelop one of the corpses.

At the same time a second figure emerged from the black oval and Enri had to struggle to remember to breathe in the face of what emerged.

The second figure was as beautiful as the first was hideous. Skin like marble, hair like gold, a dozen wings that reminded her of the clouds at sunrise and garb that seemed to exemplify 'purity'. A golden sheen seemed to breathe new life into everything around it.

It was radiant, sublime, divine. It simultaneously took her breath away and made her heart beat faster.

She was saved. Everything would be okay. The newcomer seemed to radiate a presence that soothed the spirit and just for a moment Enri felt that everything in the world would be alright. Next to her she could feel Nemu stiffen in shock and she couldn't help but feel that her sister was similarly enraptured.

'This sounds like something straight out of the myths.'

'The beautiful figure descends from on high to protect the innocent maiden from the depredations of the hideous monster. Heh, then after he's done he'll either take me away to live happily ever after or tell me that I'm the chosen one and destined to save the land.' She idly hoped that the radiant figure would take Nemu too if he decided to carry her off.

She felt wetness running down her back and down her bottom and remembered that she was bleeding rather badly. It was doubtful that her heart rate was helping that problem much, but right at that moment she couldn't really bring herself to care. At the very least it was a point against the idea that she had been cut down by that knight and was living some kind of bizarre afterlife.

Enri watched with satisfaction as the skeletal horror looked at the newcomer in what could only be abject terror. He knew, clearly he knew that he was about to receive justice. But rather than leave, the black robed abomination started walking forward. Enri couldn't decide if it was angry or afraid or something else.

The undead… thing came to a stop not far from her champion, both of them stood barely a few feet from where the sisters knelt in the grass. Well, one stood and one just sort of… hovered. She silently strained her ears so she could clearly hear their conversation, hear the words of the one that she knew would save her.

"W-what are you doing here Lucifer-san?"

"I could ask you the same Momonga. What happened to Tigris Euphrates being our eyes on the outside?"

"W-well I…."

Before the skeleton could continue the radiant one interrupted. "Don't worry about it. I'm not going to make a big deal about this. It was risky for sure but, looking around, it seems like a risk that could pay off. Speaking of potential payoffs, who's your friend?"

Enri could barely understand what was going on anymore. The whole world seemed somewhat dim, her thoughts felt hazy. Maybe it was the blood loss? It had to be. If it wasn't then that would mean that the figures of good and evil before her would sound like friends idly chatting. She glanced over to where the white one gestured at the word 'friend' and she heard little Nemu gasp beside her.

The corpse of the knight had gotten up. And he was bigger and more mean looking than ever before. His armor was black and spiked with red traces everywhere that resembled blood vessels and dark ichor that oozed from the gaps between the plates. He wielded a massive black sword and shield and had apparently gained several feet of height and several hundred pounds of muscle. It was a horror almost as bad as everything else that had happened that day. Maybe she would gasp like her sister, or scream in horror in other circumstances. But right now she just felt like the entire world could do no wrong, this holy figure would save everything right?

The thing turned and ran into town with an ungodly howl and for whatever reason Enri couldn't bring herself to care.

She missed it when the skeleton said something, but he was about to be smited so it didn't really matter. More importantly she could hear the winged one talk. His voice resonated inside of her, made of honey and warmth, and sunlight "…Interesting. So that was made with the corpse of one of those knights? That's certainly new. I wonder, what happens if I try it?"

The village girl watched entranced as the golden, floating savior gestured toward the knight that had attacked her earlier, the one that slashed her, and spoke. "[Summon Mid-Tier Demon, Gilded Devil]"

Black mist welled up around the shining figure's fingers and speared through the air.

But it didn't go towards the dead knight he was pointing at.

The mist took off at an almost perpendicular angle from his target and flew straight toward her.

She flinched, throwing up her arms to try to prevent whatever was about to happen from happening. She was almost surprised when she didn't feel anything.

Enri opened her eyes to see the mist avoid her completely. But her heart froze in her chest when she saw it engulfing Nemu.

The blonde sister watched entranced as the black mist seemed to sink into her sister's skin. She heard her sister cry out and twist and writhe. She idly noted a strange ringing sound.

Nemu started bleeding. Long cuts opened all over the young girl's body and for some reason the whole world seemed to go blurry. Enri grabbed on, feebly trying to close the rents that continued to form in her sister's flesh, idly noting the ringing growing louder.

She tried her best, but nothing she did helped. Her sister continued to bleed. She bled from her eyes and ears and nose and mouth and from numerous deep cuts that continued to open up along her arms and all over her body to bathe Nemu in her own blood.

It seemed like it lasted forever, but it truly only took a few seconds before her sister spasmed once, twice, and again as Enri tried to hold her down, tried to help.

Then a long, thin, bronze appendage ripped its way out of her sister's arm.

She stared at the skeletally thin arm, knobby and malformed, bathed in red and dotted with bits of tissue. The flesh it had just exited simply flopped to the ground, flesh utterly shredded and bones exposed.

Before she could anything more the arm struck out with a disconnected jangling sound, striking her a glancing blow across the face and causing a loud 'CRACK' before she was sent flying back towards the two mysterious figures that had stepped into her life.

Enri could feel a looseness in one side of her jaw. It didn't seem to want to move the way she wanted it to. On the bright side, the ringing noise stopped. It never even occurred to Enri that the ringing noise might be her own screaming.

All thought processes stopped when she saw Nemu again. She could only stare in shock as her precious little sister spasmed again and tore herself apart.

Blood flew through the air as a figure emerged from her little sister's body like some kind of hideous butterfly. It was humanoid, child sized, misshapen and bathed in red.

But as it took its first steps forward it seemed to grow, its limbs extending and it quickly changed from a child-sized horror to something that resembled a fully grown man. The blood spread out as it grew, revealing the dull bronze color of its skin, the golden color of its hair, the knobbiness that she mistook for physical deformity being revealed as clothing. It was dressed all in armor made from old, stained, battered, and tarnished coins. As the blood dripped away it dazzled the eye with gold and silver, and numerous rings, bracelets, and necklaces were revealed to adorn its frame with gems and precious metals gleaming in the sun. It could almost be mistaken for a long-limbed man were it not for its face. Its eyes had no particular flaw about them, it was impossible to point at any given feature and declare them inhuman, but there was a… _flatness_ about them, it was almost like looking at the eyes of a really good painting. They were just wrong, and everything else was no better. Those painted eyes on that bronze face with its cold little painted smile would no doubt send shivers down the spine of any who looked upon them.

But none of that mattered to Enri. All she could see was the… remains. The remnants of flesh that had once been her little sister Nemu, the remnants that had been discarded like an old set of clothes.

She heard a voice, seemingly far away. "I… I didn't intend to do that."

But none of it mattered.

Not the voice, not the pain in her arm, or on her back, or in her jaw, or the feeling of all the blood that had no doubt ruined her dress.

All that mattered was that her sister was gone.

'And again, all I could do was sit there and watch like some useless little girl. Just like with Mr. Morja, and father, and mother, and everyone else.'

"Nahe…muah" She tried to talk, to say her sister's name, but her jaw wasn't cooperating. She turned and faced the one responsible, the one who sparked this freezing inferno within her.

That shining figure, that golden savior, the one that she thought was here to save her.

The one that took her sister away.

Enri Emmot screamed, loud and shrill and terrible as she launched herself to her feet and ran straight at the hovering abomination, the traitor, the _thing_ that caused this. She didn't know what she could do, she had no idea how she would hurt it, but the unflinching rage and despair in heart demanded that she do _something, anything_.

She heard a voice, a deep voice, the voice of the first monster. "Hey, wait!"

Then she felt a large hand seize one shoulder.

She felt a deep, impossible cold flood through her entire body.

But that only lasted a moment. Then she collapsed and knew no more.

XXXXXXXXX

Momonga looked down at the limp figure in shock. The girl, one of the two he had deliberately come here to save, was gone. Snuffed out like a candle.

And he did it.

'How could I have been so STUPID? How could I have forgotten about the 'Negative Touch' skill?'

It was a simple skill obtained from leveling up as a Lich that dealt damage to anything he touched. In the game, he always left it on. There was no friendly fire, so what did it matter?

The blond girl didn't stand a chance. A grabbed shoulder, with no violent intentions, had cut her down.

'It was an accident. I wasn't even thinking when it happened. I didn't mean to do this.' But none of his excuses really helped.

Momonga felt frustration, guilt, shame, but in a strange way.

He didn't care about killing. He didn't care about killing the knights from before. He didn't feel any doubt, or guilt, or confusion, or anxiety or anything that a normal human would feel when he cut them down with such ease. At the same time, he didn't truly feel bad about killing the girl. It was more about how he had failed, and how he had failed to uphold the memory of his old companions, than the fact that they had died that truly bothered him.

Momonga recognized that for what it was, and all it did was make him feel worse. 'It seems that… even my heart has stopped being human.'

He let the girl fall from his grasp as he reluctantly turned to face his friend. Nervousness filled his heart. All of the doubt and anxiety and everything else that had left him alone when he slew the knights came back in full force now. What would Lucifer think? What would Tigris Euphrates or Herohero think? The idea that they would denounce him, call him a monster, a fiend, inhuman, they all played through his mind in a parade of possible accusations. The idea that his last friends would turn their backs on him, that frightened him more than anything else in the world.

"I didn't mean it!" He blurted the words out, his voice high, almost panicked. "You have to believe me Lucifer-san! I didn't mean to do it! I saw her rushing for you and I just wanted to stop her, I didn't mean to kill her!"

Lucifer just stood there, or floated there, his expression unmoving as he stared down at the dead girl, and then glanced over to where the newly summoned Devil stood over scraps and stains. Momonga had no heart, but he still felt like it was pounding in his chest. He was never good with things like this. Reading people, divining what they were thinking, guessing their intentions. And Lucifer was probably the best he ever knew when it came to hiding emotions and intentions and thoughts. The angel's face might as well have been a mask for all the information that it gave away. If it weren't for the fact that his eyes were moving Momonga might have thought that they were back in YGGDRASIL.

After a long moment those cold blue eyes moved back to him and Momonga's nervousness peaked before fading away like it was never there. The passive skill kicked in to calm his emotions.

But that same nervousness started rising to a crescendo again before Lucifer finally spoke. "Given the circumstances, I don't think that I'm in any position to throw stones Momonga. We're both responsible for the unintentional death of an innocent today."

His voice was cold, calm, even, but Momonga thought he could detect a slight wavering there. Nervousness was mixed with concern. "Lucifer-san, you mustn't blame yourself for what happened. You didn't intend for… that… to happen did you?" If his friend was shaken up by these events, it fell to him to console the man as best he could.

Lucifer glanced over to where the blood-streaked devil stood observing its surroundings. "I intended to use the other corpse as a medium to summon it, the same as you did. But instead of going toward my target it went straight for the girl. Why? My best guess is that it that it's because we summoned different things."

He gestured towards the dead knight, still lying in the grass. "You summoned an undead monster, so you used a corpse to bring it forth. I summoned a devil, so it enacted a different price. I believe that if I am to mimic your methods, and whatever benefits that might be had from those methods, my summoning requires living sacrifices. The girl was hurt. She was unable to move under her own power, she was in the presence of something that she could never hope to escape from. Maybe that was good enough to consider her a captive and therefore an appropriate target." He sighed. "What a mess, what a waste."

Momonga wasn't sure what to say. The silence lasted a moment before Lucifer continued. "Momonga, you sent that Death Knight to slay the attackers of this village yes?"

He reluctantly nodded. He had thought the order and the Death Knight immediately obeyed, rushing into the village with a roar of joy and anticipation. It was a real surprise. That never happened in YGGDRASIL.

His blonde friend nodded in turn and pointed to the Gilded Devil. "You, stalk the exterior of the village. Slay any knights on horseback and any who try to escape."

The fiend's features twisted into a smile as he bowed low at the waist. "As you wish, my Master."

The Overlord flinched back at the voice, and he could see Lucifer go still for a moment. The Devil's voice was smooth, silky, melodious, with an undertone of joy to it. But more important was the fact that it _spoke_. Summoned monsters couldn't speak. At least not in YGGDRASIL. Another unexpected example of how their abilities had changed.

Momonga watched for a moment as the monster looked toward the village and teleported away before he returned to a rather important subject. "Lucifer-san, what do we do now? What do we do about… them?"

Lucifer shrugged, not turning to look at him but instead keeping his eyes on the village. "As unpleasant as it is, what _can_ we do? Death is death Momonga. There are really only two options. Either we do nothing and go about our business, or we take a risk and resurrect them. The question is, what will resurrecting them do for us? You don't intend to stop here, do you? You intend to go about stopping this attack? If we bring these girls back, and they tell others about what they saw and what happened here I doubt it will go well. To say nothing of what might happen if stories spread about someone who can bring back the dead. It's liable to cause more issues than it solves."

Momonga tried to speak, but was immediately interrupted. "You never answered my question from before either. Why did _you_ come here? Why did you put everyone and everything on the highest alert and then run off on your own, without asking any of us what we thought about all of this?"

The skeleton swallowed the lump in his throat, or at least it felt like he did. He couldn't say something like 'I felt the need to save them' or 'It's what Touch Me-san would have done' or 'It was right' or any of that. It wouldn't fly. None of it would make up for doing things on his own, for putting everything at risk.

He wracked his brains to try and think up a good excuse, something plausible, something reasonable, something that wouldn't make everybody question his judgment.

But it was hard.

How could he deceive his friends? How could he lie to them? Almost as importantly, even if he could work up the nerve to lie to them would they believe it? They were among his most trusted companions, the ones that knew him best. Would a simple lie actually be believed?

Lucifer spoke again before Momonga could come up with anything. "Don't worry Momonga, I don't intend to interrogate you. I'm sure you had your reasons for this."

A stunned moment passed before Momonga looked up. Really? Could it possibly be so easy?

Lucifer just floated there for a moment before he continued. "I came here mainly to ensure that you didn't get yourself killed. We don't know how things work in regard to resurrection, and we don't know where we stand in this world, although I'm starting to think that we aren't on the bottom rung of the food chain. I'm sure you had your reasons to come here so I won't ask you to justify yourself or interrupt you any further. Do what you feel you must, and I'll help you explain all of this to Tigris Euphrates and Herohero so they don't get on your case about things. Promise. [Continuous Magic: Greater Invisibility]!"

With those words Lucifer vanished from normal sight. But Momonga could still see him, barely. One of his passive skills let him automatically detect invisible things. It was good to know that that skill still worked.

He watched as Lucifer rose into the sky. "I'll ensure that you aren't ambushed Momonga. However, just as you're free to do what you believe you must, I shall do the same. [Continuous Magic: Greater Silence]!"

Cloaked from eyes and ears Lucifer's wings beat once and propelled him forward towards the village.

Momonga was filled with mixed feelings. Gratitude for the understanding his friend had shown, guilt for going against the idea of group decisions that was the heart of their Guild, shame for doubting his friend's ability to understand him. But those slowly gave way to worry, anxiety, and nervousness. Especially when he combined what he felt now with what he felt about everything not so long ago.

'Since when was Lucifer-san so nice?'

He had known Lucifer for a long time. While Momonga wasn't as close to him as he was to some other members of his Guild, he still knew the man's traits and personality. Lucifer had a reputation, from his days in Ainz Ooal Gown and before he joined the Guild. There was a saying, even. 'When Lucifer starts acting nice, watch your back.'

He slowly started to go over his friend's words, but he didn't have to look too hard. 'Just as you're free to do what you must, I shall do the same'.

Those words filled him with trepidation, and he realized that he had to get over to the village immediately.

But it would be stupid to rush over there without preparations.

He looked over to the other fallen Knight, intending to make another Death Knight. The first had run off on his orders, which was stupid. What was the point of a defender, a shield, when you immediately threw it away? But before he could use his special ability to make another Death Knight, a figure in black armor stepped out of the Portal.

The Portal finally faded, its duration expended, and Momonga was left alone with the armored figure.

The armor resembled a demon, pitch black and festooned with spikes and blades. It didn't show even an inch of the flesh beneath. Its clawed gauntlets held a black kite shield and a bardiche that glowed with a sickly green light. A blood red cape danced in the wind and the doublet beneath was the same sanguine color.

The figure spoke, and while the voice was slightly muffled it was undoubtedly female. "I apologize for my late arrival Momonga-sama, the preparations took some time." Momonga slightly relaxed upon hearing Albedo's melodious tones.

Albedo was mainly focused on the defense-focused Unholy Knight class. Among the three warrior-oriented level one hundred NPCs, the other two being Sebas Tian and Cocytus, Albedo held the greatest defensive power.

Momonga was swift to answer her. "There's no need to worry, you came just in time." After all, what need did he have of a Death Knight when he had Nazarick's strongest shield to protect him?

Albedo seemed to shudder for a moment. Could it be that she was cold? Before he could ask she spoke "I'm truly grateful for your praise. So… shall we destroy the inferior life-forms living in that squalor over there? I see that Momonga-sama has already begun to purge the worthless creatures." She pointedly glanced at the corpses lying nearby.

He felt bad about all of that, especially the two girls. But there was no time for that kind of sentiment. "No, there's no need for that. How much did Sebas Tian tell you?"

Albedo did not respond.

"I see, so you didn't pay attention. My intention is to save this village. Lucifer-san has already gone ahead so we have to hurry. But before that…." He quickly rummaged through his item box. He wasn't blind to the reaction everyone had when they saw him, especially the two girls. It didn't take much brainpower to figure out why. He quickly changed his equipment, donning a mask and iron gloves that held the skeletal nature of his hands, putting away his staff.

Evidently the old prejudice about heteromorphic beings was in full force here. They were terrified of him even though he came to save them and fought to protect them. Why would they be so scared if not for the fact that he wasn't human? With his face covered by the Mask of Envy, something that resembled a Balinese festival mask, and his hands hidden by rough iron gauntlets, nobody should be able to tell him from human anymore. He started heading towards the village, Albedo right behind him.

She quickly asked "Lucifer-sama is here as well?"

Momonga nodded, somewhat distracted. He was trying not to think about the sort of things Albedo inspired in him. Regret, mostly, for what he did to her settings, and trepidation. Hearing her voice reminded him of the job that Lucifer had single-handedly dumped into his lap and he was trying hard not to think about that.

He spared a glance back towards the two girls. The ones he failed to save. One taken by an honest mistake, the other slain by reflex and instinct. He had the capability of bringing them back, assuming that his Wands of Resurrection worked. But after several minutes of silent thought he decided not to. He didn't know how things worked here, and before he knew how it would be perceived he couldn't go bringing back the dead. Who could guess how much attention the act of resurrection would bring down upon him? Down upon Nazarick? He couldn't take that risk.

'Both of you, I'm sorry that this happened. I am so sorry. Please forgive me.'

With those apologies in his heart he began to hurry. That uneasy feeling in his gut never left him. He had no idea what Lucifer might do, but he couldn't help but feel that if he didn't hurry then even more tragedies would occur.

XXXXXXXXX

"OOOOOOHHHHH!"

The mighty roar shattered the air.

It was a signal for the hunt to become a different sort.

Just like that, in moments, the hunters had become the hunted.

Londes Di Gelanpo had cursed the gods more times in the past minute than he had in the rest of his life. If the gods truly did exist then they should smite the evil before them. Londes was a faithful man, why had his gods abandoned him?

The gods did not exist.

In the past he had looked down upon those who lacked faith as foolish. After all, if the gods did not exist then from where did the priests get their magic? Utter foolishness.

He now realized just how foolish and naïve that belief had been.

The monster before him- the Death Knight for lack of a better term- slowly stepped forward.

Londes moved back to keep his distance from it.

His armor creaked as he moved, and the sword in his hands shook uncontrollably. He was far from alone. The other eighteen knights beside him were no different.

Although they were all filled with fear, they did not run. This was not courage, if they could run away then they would already be long gone. They only stood their ground because they knew that there was no escape.

He looked to the villagers, hoping for aid, but he found none. Of the sixty surviving villagers that he and his men had herded to the main square none looked like they might jump in and serve as a decoy. They were all too scared, they just stared at his men and at the monster and did nothing. There were children holding sticks, but even they didn't think it wise to do anything.

Londes and his men had herded the villagers here to the central square. They broke down doors to root out anyone trying to hide, and used alchemical oils to burn out the basements and set the buildings on fire when they were done. More of their comrades-in-arms waited outside of the village on horseback with bows. Their job was to hunt down any villagers that managed to make it away from the main force. They were all well practiced at this by now.

The massacre had taken some time, but had proceeded at a good pace. All the survivors were in the central square. All that was left was to slaughter the ones that didn't bother fighting until now, leaving behind a few survivors to act as bait. It was a good plan that had worked well several times in the past few weeks. Until now.

Londes couldn't get the image out of his mind. The sight of Erion flying through the air as they herded the last villagers into what would quickly become their abattoir. It was impossible, a grown man in full plate mail flying through the air like a tossed stone. But it didn't matter what he thought was impossible or not. It had still happened.

Erion had flown more than twenty feet through the air before crashing to the ground in a broken heap.

Where the man had once stood was now a bone-chilling monster. It lowered the tower shield it had bashed Erion with, and despair had filled the hearts of any who saw it.

The panicked screams, more like squeals, of the men filled the air as everyone tried to get away. One of the knights huddled together with his comrades gave into his instinct and ran for it. It was only natural. When pushed to the brink like this, people would snap.

Nobody joined the man in his attempt at escape, and the reason quickly became apparent as a whirlwind of black passed through Londes' vision.

The Death Knight was larger than a human, but nobody expected it to have the agility and grace that it did.

The fleeing knight only managed to take three steps. Before he took his fourth an arc of silver brilliance swept through the air and cleaved him in two. The separated left and right halves fell to either side, releasing blood and worse everywhere along with a foul odor.

"GUWOOOOOH!" They shuddered at the thing's cry of joy. Through the gaps in its helmet they could see its rotted face, and could understand just how much the thing had enjoyed rending the man in twain. It savored the fear and despair of the lesser creatures before it that were unable to survive even a single blow.

Nobody dared to attack, even though they had swords in hand.

At first they had tried to attack it, but that hadn't gone well. Even the blades that had gotten past the shield and the parrying sword could not strike a decisive blow through the thing's armor.

In retaliation it had hit him, Londes, with its shield without using enough force to kill him. It was clear that the Death Knight was just toying with them. It just wanted to watch them struggle. It would only actually kill them when they tried to escape.

Ririk was the first to run. A nice guy but a bad drunk. The Death Knight had hacked off all of his limbs before taking off the man's head. After two deaths the remaining knights stopped trying to attack it.

Unable to attack, unable to run, impossible to do anything but just sit there and wait for the Death Knight to finish it. Sit there and wait for their turn to be tortured to death.

"Oh god…"

"Oh god, please save me…"

In response to these prayers for salvation… the gods did nothing. The strength left Londes' legs and he almost fell to his knees. He cried out, cursing the gods for their apathy.

"You, you lot, go and drive that monster back!" One desperate knight shouted. He knew that his fate was sealed and his voice sounded like an off-key psalm.

He was standing close to the Death Knight, backing away as quickly as he could. The way he danced around the two halves of his fallen comrade was almost comical.

Londes tried to place the man. It was hard to tell who it was, their helmets were closed and their voices were distorted by fear. Still, there was only one man in this platoon who would be so cowardly.

Captain Belius.

Londes' frown deepened.

Earlier in the day he had tried to rape a village girl, calling for help from the men when the girl's father fought back. Once he had help he had cut the father down without hesitation. He was a craven weasel. But his family was wealthy, and he had managed to get himself put in command of their unit. Things had only gone downhill after he took command.

"I can't afford to die here! I'm your captain, it's your job to act as my shields and protect me! All of you, hurry up!"

The man's shrill voice fell on deaf ears. He may have been appointed their captain but that didn't mean that they had to like him. None of the remaining knights had any intention of giving up their lives for someone like him.

But the Death Knight responded to his shouting, turning to face him.

The man's shriek sounded like it could have cracked glass.

As the monster started forward, something strange happened.

Belius began to calm down, taking a few steps backward to try and keep his distance from the Death Knight. Londes took note of the suddenly different behavior before their pathetic captain turned and ran towards the nearest street. He yelled "I am chosen by the gods! I have a greater purpose! I cannot die in a miserable place like this!"

Londes marveled at the man's stupidity, running away was the best way to get the monster's attention. Even ignoring the idiocy of thinking that he was 'chosen by the gods'. Had the fool gone mad with fear?

Sure enough, the Death Knight was right behind him, a black blur flickering towards its prey.

He was kind of looking forward to it, in this case. Belius had been a thorn in everyone's side for a long time. If they were all doomed then it would be nice to see that blowhard go first.

But that didn't happen.

The Death Knight blurred forward, sword raised, but instead of cleaving the pig of a man in two it seemed to hit some kind of invisible wall. The Death Knight flew through the air to land ten meters away in a heap.

Londes couldn't believe his eyes. Nobody could. Divine intervention? Here? Now? For _him_?

What else could it be?

"Ha… haha…" He felt the laughter rising through him, and he couldn't help but express it. What madness was this? A lifetime of service to his gods, and they act to save some pathetic worm like _Belius_ while leaving everyone else to their fate?

He almost collapsed to his knees as his world came apart. A few of his comrades were made of more stern stuff. They immediately turned and ran after Belius rather than marvel at the impossibility that they just witnessed.

It would have been so nice if that was enough.

The Death Knight sprang up, looking a little worse for wear but still just as mean. The knights who tried to make a break for it quickly found themselves caught. A decapitation, a disembowelment, another man cut in two. Three swift cuts and the attempt at escape was over. They were back where they started, down to fourteen. Fifteen if Londes counted himself.

"Uuuooorgh"

Londes had only a moment to look for the strange sound before one of his comrades screamed. He looked over, and saw Bosmin hacking down at the ground with his sword.

His blood ran cold when he saw what his comrade was attacking. It was the right side of Ririk's corpse, come to life and grabbing at Bosmin's ankle. Only a few feet away, Ririk's left side was starting to crawl around.

Zombie Slaves.

In YGGDRASIL, creatures slain by a Death Knight would become lesser undead, haunting the place where they were killed. According to the game's lore, those slain by a Death Knight would be that Death Knight's slaves for all eternity.

One last mighty slash separated hand from wrist and Bosmin almost fell in his hurry to get away from the shambling thing.

The relief didn't last long. A glance over to where the Death Knight still stood showed three corpses starting to move. Another glance over at Erion's body proved that it, too, was far from still. Thankfully the Death Knight had apparently broken so many bones that Erion's body was having trouble actually standing. Small blessings.

"No…no…please no."

"Oh god"

Upon seeing the ghastly sight their will to fight faded even more. But that didn't help their situation at all. If they ran, they would die, if they stayed they would die horribly. Everyone knew that, but still nobody could bring themselves to move.

"Get a grip!" He bellowed to his fellow knights.

Londes' shout ripped through the fear. Silence filled the air instead, heavy and pregnant with potential promise.

"Fall back! Everyone fall back away from the direction Belius ran and give the signal for the horsemen! Everyone else protect the hornblower! I don't want to die like they did! Move!"

Everyone moved in an instant.

There was no sign of their earlier hesitation, their weakness, their fear. Everyone moved in silent unison, like the pieces of a machine, like their training taught them to. A miracle created by their fear and countless drills, there was no way that they would be able to move like this a second time. So coordinated, so immaculate.

They all moved as one to protect a single knight as he removed a horn from his bag. They had to protect him while he signaled their comrades.

"OOOOOHHHHHHH!"

The Death Knight screamed, as though reacting to the horn. It charged straight toward them, unflinching. Everyone was at least a little shocked. Could it be that the Death Knight recognized the horn for what it was? Was this reaction proof that their comrades could be dangerous to it? That reaction, that acknowledgement, it gave them more hope than even Belius' supposed 'divine protection'.

Trying to fight the Death Knight head on was suicide. Nonetheless, they fought against their fear by reasoning that failure was even worse. Nobody hesitated as they surged forward to become obstacles, each man hoping to hold the Death Knight for just a few seconds more.

The monster was having none of it. Every swing of its sword cut at least one man down, every maneuver with its shield sent a man flying through the air to land with broken bones or worse.

"Dezen! Mouret! Quickly, behead the fallen! Before they come back as monsters!"

The two named knights quickly carried out their orders, hurrying towards their two closest murdered comrades.

A swing of the Death Knight's shield caught another knight, Londes wasn't sure who at first glance, and tossed him up into the air. A quick cut divided the man in two before he hit the ground.

Four men had died in half as many seconds. Though Londes was still gripped with fear he made sure to grip his sword harder as he watched the pitch-black storm of death draw near. He couldn't help but wonder if this was enough to consider him a martyr.

Martyr or not, Londes struck with all his strength, screaming a battlecry as he did. He had no intention of just sitting by and waiting for death.

Maybe it was due to the circumstances, maybe it was due to his newfound belief that the gods _were_ watching, maybe it was due to something else, but Londes felt that this strike was different. Something had changed, something important. Some limit had broken and let him strike the hardest he had ever struck anything.

As his sword blurred through the air toward the Death Knight's helmet, Londes idly noted that this was probably the best slash he had ever done in his life.

The Death Knight swung its flamberge without a speck of hesitation, mercy, or pity.

In an instant, the world around Londes seemed to spin.

He saw his decapitated corpse collapse to its knees as his sword swung through empty air.

Just then, at that moment, the horn rang out loud and clear.

Londes couldn't help but feel somewhat relieved. Although, as the world went dark, he did regret cursing the gods quite so much now that he was pretty certain that they were really real.

XXXXXXXXX

Belius Cor Damel was a man used to the better things in life. His family was wealthy, his uncle was one of the High Priests in direct service to the Archbishop of the God of Life that his family worshipped. A direct servant of one of the six men who interpreted the will of the Six Gods and led the Slane Theocracy, the most powerful human nation in the world. His father was of lesser office, but was still highly placed in the military as one of the lieutenants stationed to the capital's garrison. Those who were tasked with defending the capital, the holy ground where the Six Great Gods worked their miracle to bestow magic upon mankind, were the greatest and most devout of warriors. A lieutenant stationed to the capital was a greater warrior than anyone you could find in the other cities.

It was this pedigree that put Belius into command of this unit of infiltrators. His father told him that it was meant to give him experience in command to prepare him for future duties. It was also meant to give him a way to look impressive in front of Nigun Grid Luin.

Nigun Grid Luin, the leader of the Sunlight Scripture, was one of the most powerful men in the Slane Theocracy. He answered directly to the Six Archbishops and held a position and prestige far greater than his father and just shy of the influence commanded by his uncle. Belius was trained from youth to be great. He was educated in the Theocracy's greatest academies, tutored in mathematics, sciences, and the mysteries of the Six Gods. He learned swordsmanship from the best instructors money could buy, and learned to harness the magic granted by his god from the best instructors money and influence could buy. Already he could command the power of the Second Tier. His Innate Talent allowed him greater allocations of abilities that could only be used a finite number of times a day, such as 'Turn Undead'. There was no doubt that one day he would reach and master the Third Tier as well.

Between his talent, his training, and the influence of his family there was no doubt that one day he could join the Six Scriptures. If he displayed his ability firsthand to Nigun himself it would only ease the process. From membership in the Sunlight Scripture, he could work hard until one day he could claim the Captaincy himself. Between that position and his father's position in the more mundane military they could support his uncle when the current Archbishop of Life perished and it came time to select a replacement. It was all so clear.

And it all began with slaughtering a few villages of infidels to lure out the worthless thug that stood in the way of progress.

It was so simple, so clear, so easy, and then the entire house of cards came falling down when that unholy abomination appeared out of nowhere and started slaughtering his men.

The creature moved as swift as the wind, and every stroke of its sword meant death. Anyone would be terrified. He wasn't wrong to be afraid.

Of course his men were afraid too, they were so terrified that they forgot their duty. Rather than act as shields for him so that he could use his magic to banish the undead horror they decided to stand by and allow him to die. The filthy, blasphemous traitors.

He looked the creature in the eye as it stalked closer, his heart beating in his chest, his breathing strained. He tried to reach for his magic, reach for the blessings of his God, but his mind was too weak, his focus could not be marshaled to tap into that well of divine power so he could turn the undead and send it away. The Death Knight, it was the only term that seemed to fit the horror before him, drew closer with its sword raised.

Belius was skilled with a sword, he was better than any man in his platoon, but no man could stand against _that_.

But instead of being cut down, just when Belius' fear was growing to the point that he might faint, a miracle happened.

His god had answered his fervent prayers.

A voice whispered in his ear, the tones warm and filled with quiet strength. The voice told him that he was chosen, that he was blessed, and that it was not yet time for him to die. The voice told him that he had a purpose.

His heart soared, fear and tension dropping away as he looked up at the abomination before him. The voice whispered into his mind. 'My faithful need have no fear. Turn to your right and flee. This creature will not harm you.'

Another might call him mad, hearing voices from nothing. But he believed in his gods, he was secure in his faith. It only made sense, to his mind, that the gods would act to save their chosen instruments so that they could fight another day. He put his faith in the voice of his god and ran as fast as he could; sweat running down his forehead and stinging his eyes.

A lump formed in his throat as he heard the abomination roar behind him, the same sound that it made before it cut down his men. But instead of falter he put on another burst of speed, sure that he was chosen, sure that divine intervention would see to his safety.

He felt the air move behind him, he heard the creature sprint towards him, and he felt a glimmer of fear.

But that same voice echoed through his mind once more, setting him at ease. '[Silent Magic: Repulsion]'

Belius spared a glance backwards just in time to see the monster run into some invisible force behind him and collapse upon the ground. Every fiber of his being danced with joy, validated in faith, secure in purpose.

His god was mighty.

He was going to live.

The captain of the fake knights ran down the street, heart ablaze with pride and hope, when the voice spoke once more.

'Take the next turn left into the alley chosen one. Fear not the darkness, I will keep you safe.'

Belius could barely contain his excitement. Without hesitation he followed the word of his god, or his god's messenger, whoever the voice was. He ducked into the next alley, ignoring how one of the houses forming it was on fire.

It was pitch black before him, but he did not slow. His god was by his side today, and his was a mighty god indeed. The darkness held no fear for him.

A strange feeling spread throughout his body, just for a moment. Then his surroundings changed without warning.

He took a few tentative steps forward, holding his hand up to his eyes to shield them from the sudden light.

When his eyes adjusted to the world around him, his jaw dropped open in awe.

He was in heaven.

Around him was a hall of shining marble, lit by chandeliers made of precious materials. All around him were pillars and prisms and mirrors, light shined everywhere, there wasn't a shadow in sight.

Stunned by the sudden change of location, he staggered over towards a nearby table. It was made of glass and silver and platinum and metals he didn't know the names of, all of them shaped by the most impeccable artistry he had ever seen. He had once been in the council chambers where the Six Bishops held their meetings, and the furnishings there couldn't be compared to what he saw before him now. He didn't even want to touch it for fear that he might dirty it.

He was still looking around, utterly bewildered, when a voice sounded behind him. "Enjoying the change of scenery?"

Belius spun around at the familiar voice, and saw a most wondrous figure.

Before him stood a creature of sublime beauty, clothed in garb that held power greater than anything he had ever seen before, the figure's skin was the color of milk, its hair shone like the light of the sun, twelve white wings framed the figure and everything shone with a divine radiance.

He was speechless, unable to move, or speak. Was this the God of Life? He didn't look anything like the illustrations in his holy text. But who knew what the gods truly looked like? The pictures were made by man.

The divine figure gestured toward a floating oval of darkness that marred one wall, and the oval faded from view. He was left alone with the radiant one.

The winged one, he just realized that it was floating in the air rather than standing, drew nearer. His eyes were like pieces of ice, sharp and piercing with something that could not be described or understood by mere mortals.

Belius collapsed to one knee, his hands held together in reverence. "Oh god, I thank you for this gift, for this wondrous vision. I am not worthy of such consideration, truly I am blessed."

That seemed to amuse the radiant figure before him. Belius dared to glance upward, and caught a glimpse of teeth that were as perfect as everything else in this wonderful place.

The figure spoke again. "Not worthy of consideration? Oh, I'm afraid you are certainly worthy of that. For better or worse. Just to be clear, you are the captain of those men out there, yes? Their leader?"

A flicker of fear entered the man's heart. He couldn't help but think that something was wrong, although he couldn't tell what. He answered anyway "Yes, I am Belius Cor Damel, captain of the Slane Theocracy's third infantry battalion, fourth platoon, currently loaned to the Sunlight Scripture."

The messenger, or god, of whatever it was tilted its head. "I see. Interesting names, even though I don't know what they mean. We'll change that soon enough."

Doubt built up in Belius' heart. If this was a god, the God of Life, or one of his messengers, would it not already know such things? "I'm sorry for the impertinence, but if I may ask, who are you?"

The figure smiled again. "I could tell you, but I don't think that the name would mean anything to you. Now then, with the pleasantries out of the way, let's get started." The winged one raised a hand, and Belius felt fear course through every inch of his being.

He jumped up and scrambled away from that hand, eyeing it like a snake that was about to strike. Something was definitely wrong here.

"Y-you never answered my question! Who are you? You sound like that voice that I heard, are you really him? Or are you something else?"

Belius wasn't sure what to think, all he knew was that something screamed at him that he should be wary, that he was in danger. He didn't know why, but his instincts were rarely wrong. And they told him that there was great danger here.

The creature just kept smiling, though it wasn't showing any teeth now. "Yes, I was that little voice in your ear. And rest assured I never lied to you. I said you were chosen, and you certainly were. Though I suspect that what I chose you for is different than what you might have thought. I told you that my faithful need have no fear, and while you don't seem very faithful to me I'll keep my end of the deal anyway. While you may feel plenty of fear right now, that's about to change."

Belius started looking around for an exit, a door, anything that would let him get away. This was looking worse and worse by the second; his heart was hammering away again, his breathing becoming quick gasps.

His eyes fell upon two doors, one at either side of the hall. He immediately dashed toward the closer one.

He never got anywhere.

No sooner had he turned toward the door did he realize that the winged one was right in front of him. A glance toward the wall showed that he was indeed gone. When had he moved?

A perfect, milk white hand was placed upon his brow, and he had just a moment to feel its impossible softness.

Then a single word echoed into his ears and through his mind and the entire world changed again, but in a different way.

"[Lust]"

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Lucifer watched carefully as the man's eyes lost focus before he collapsed to the ground. He didn't watch Belius' body, but rather the cloud of colors around him. He could perceive the same cloud around everything that could think for itself, and he was quickly figuring out what it all meant. He saw the violent flares of bright electric blue panic dull and fade, replaced by the pale pinks and yellows that represented love and infatuation and the more solid earthy colors that depicted duty, absolute trust, and loyalty. The same colors that he saw surrounding Shalltear and Albedo all the time although Albedo's feelings were directed elsewhere. The same colors that all the NPCs seemed to have, at somewhat varied intensities depending on the NPC and the subject in question.

He had taken no chances with the skills used. Rather than use some lesser version of control, he had hammered the knight with [Lust]. It was one of the seven skills granted by his 'Root of Evil' class, and he was fairly sure that it was the most powerful mind control skill in YGGDRASIL. He could only use it a few times a day, but it hit the target with 'Hypnosis', 'Mind Control', 'Charm', and numerous other mind control effects with guaranteed effectiveness. Mere resistance wasn't enough to get away from it. The only way to be struck with that skill and retain one's own will was to be completely immune to mental effects altogether, like the undead were. But whether it came from Racial Traits, Job Traits, or equipment, if someone had even the slightest vulnerability to mental effects then [Lust] would ruin their day.

Captain Belius slowly rose from the ground, taking one knee and bowing his head.

There was no time to waste. If something was coming then he had to know.

"Now then, let's get started. I have a million questions and I expect you to answer them. I already know who you are and where you come from, and trust me we'll talk about those later but what I really want to know is…" Lucifer got closer and knelt down so he could look into the captain's glazed eyes. "What is your purpose here? What's the mission? What's supposed to happen next in all of this?"

Belius knelt there, stunned by the fact that the center of his universe actually spoke to him. After a moment of hesitation, he began to speak.

XXXXXXXXX

Momonga strode across the grass towards the outer buildings of the village. With a gesture of one hand and a muttered word he activated the [Flight] spell and rose into the air. Albedo followed him up as he soared through the air towards the outermost buildings.

He spared a few spells to put out the nearby fires as he went through the smoke towards the center of the village when he suddenly heard a horn blast out a solid note.

Growing worried, he picked up speed and went straight to the village square, his robe flapping around his body as he picked up speed.

The skeleton felt the mental connection to his undead servant, and sent a message along that connection. [Death Knight if there are any surviving knights, spare them. They are useful to me.] The monster's responded with acknowledgement, although it couldn't really be put into words.

He kept a close eye out for Lucifer as he slowed down near the square, but he couldn't see him anywhere. That, more than anything else, made him nervous.

With that thought in the back of his mind, he looked down at the battleground.

On one side of the square huddled a mass of people, maybe sixty in all. There were a handful of children nearby, bringing the number up to seventy or so.

More importantly, there were four more knights standing amongst their fallen comrades, heavily panting, the Death Knight looming nearby. The ground around the slaughter was dark and black, thoroughly soaked in fluids. The fallen armored figures were twitching and crawling, none of them were in good enough shape to actually stand.

He felt no fear about the situation. The Death Knight was only a level thirty five monster. While it had special abilities, the fact that it was still alive meant that there was no danger here. Although… Momonga spared his creation a second glance. The Death Knight had suffered some amount of damage, so the Knights weren't completely helpless.

'Maybe I should be a little bit careful around them after all?'

Momonga shook his head, there was no point. If they could die from a simple Fifth Tier spell then there was nothing to worry about.

"Death Knight. That will be all for now."

His words didn't fit the setting. This was a scene of terror and pain, and he sounded like he was buying something at the store. But he didn't feel any of those emotions here, he could look upon the scene of horror without flinching. And that bothered him in its own way but he couldn't show that here.

He slowly descended to the ground, Albedo right behind him.

The false knights watched him with jaws agape. They had been hoping for rescue, but instead things only got so much worse. His arrival had utterly shattered their hopes, and it showed.

He casually walked toward them, "Greetings gentlemen, my name is…." He paused.

'What should I call myself?'

It was a serious question. If he used his real name, then whoever was in charge of these knights might come after him and that would put Nazarick in danger. It would be better to come up with a fake name for now.

Momonga raised a fist to his mouth to clear his throat, or at least make a sound like he was clearing his throat. "My name is Satoru."

Nobody answered. Momonga figured that this was his best bet. He couldn't come up with anything better on such short notice. Sure, it was his real name, but that didn't really mean anything. Satoru was a fairly common name, nobody should be able to trace it back to him.

When the silence seemed that it wouldn't end, Momonga forced himself to continue talking. "If you throw down your arms, I can guarantee your lives. Of course, if you would rather fight…."

It took only seconds for the first knight to drop his sword. The other three wasted no time mimicking him.

Still, nobody said a word. Momonga tried to hide his nervousness as he continued, his eyes periodically checking the sky for signs of his guildmate.

"You all look rather tired. Don't you think your heads are being held a bit too high before the master of the Death Knight?"

The four armored figures immediately got to their knees. They didn't look like followers swearing loyalty, they looked like condemned prisoners awaiting what came next.

He was happy that this was going so well. "Since you have surrendered, I shall let you leave with your lives as I promised. However, when you return to your master, or your owner, tell him this."

Momonga used the lingering effects of the 'flight' spell to hover over to one of the knights, and knelt down to look him in the eye. He pulled the man's helmet off, noting how tired he looked. Their eyes met through the gaps of the Mask of Envy. He whispered "Tell him that you should not make any more trouble around here. If you disregard this advice, I will destroy you and your entire country."

The knight nodded as hard as he could. It actually looked quite comical.

Momonga rose back up to his full height. "Then get lost. Leave and don't ever come back. And make sure to tell your master what I said."

He jerked his chin, and the knights took off like a bunch of rabbits.

'Ah, this act is quite tiring' he silently grumbled to himself as the knights ran away. Although he couldn't help but think that he was forgetting something.

If the villagers weren't all watching him he would have stretched his shoulders, but he couldn't afford that luxury. Although it was no different in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, playing the act of a dignified person was very tiring for a normal salaryman like him. But until the curtains closed on this act he had to wear yet another mask.

He spared another glance around the sky, and still saw no sign of Lucifer. Every time he couldn't find that man he got more nervous. He'd like to use 'Message' but that required actually speaking and he didn't want to talk to himself in front of all these villagers.

Speaking of the villagers… he turned to face them. They all stared at him, not daring to move. Momonga sighed and walked toward them, Albedo right behind him and clanking with every step.

He sent off a silent command to the Death Knight [Clean up the Zombie Slaves].

As Momonga got closer, he could clearly see their fear, confusion, and unease. They had no idea what was happening. They weren't unhappy about being saved, but they were frightened of him.

It took a moment for Momonga to finally realize this. He was powerful, far more powerful than the knights. He had to consider the situation from a weak person's point of view.

He stopped and quietly pondered the issue for a moment.

If he got any closer he would have the opposite effect of what he wanted, they'd scatter and run. So he decided to stay where he was and spoke to them as kindly as he could. "You have been saved. Please, be at ease."

"You, you are…."

One of the villagers managed to work up enough courage to speak up, but the man's eyes never left the Death Knight.

Momonga tried to get their attention away from his servant. "I saw that this village was being attacked, and decided to intervene."

Sounds of relief could be heard, but still Momonga could tell that they were far from being at ease.

'This is such a pain. Should I try a different approach?'

It was too easy. That was the issue. If something looked too good to be true then it probably was.

So Momonga decided to handle this from an angle he didn't really approve of.

"With all of that said, I don't work for free. I fully expect to be repaid for my efforts, a certain amount for every villager I saved."

The villagers all looked at each other. They were clearly worried about the question of money. Still, their looks of doubt started to fade away. This was a situation they were somewhat familiar with, something they could believe. The crass demand of money made sense in a way that a Good Samaritan did not.

One of the villagers finally screwed up enough courage to speak. "With, with the village in its present state…."

Momonga raised a hand to stop him. "If you don't mind, can we discuss this later? There are still fires that have to be put out, and other tasks that must be seen to. We should take care of those first."

Without another word he turned and flew off. It was a blatant attempt to buy time. He had no idea how money worked here or how much he should ask for. He had no idea about what other topics he should raise with the villagers after everything was done.

And he still had no idea where Lucifer was.

The villagers started to spread out to splash water on the roofs so that the flames didn't leap from one thatch roof to another, and he decided to put off the 'Message' until later. If Lucifer hadn't done anything yet then he probably wasn't going to do anything at all.

Momonga just hoped that Lucifer didn't get lost doing whatever he was doing. After a moment he put it out of mind and went to put out the flames.

XXXXXXXXX

And that's the chapter finished. At long last. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and all the rest. I just hope that the sheer size of this monstrosity makes up for how long it took. That first section was re-written several times as I tried to get the exact mix of happiness and frustration for Momonga. The feeling that he's happy that he's not alone combined with the irritation that things aren't necessarily going the way he wants them to and the feeling of resigned frustration that he has to go along with it because the decision was made as a group which led to a bit of quickly rationalized rebellion.

And another section that took a few tries was Enri's point of view as she went into shock from her injuries and became kind of an unreliable narrator. Fear, despair, blood loss, pain, guilt, it messes with you. Especially so if you aren't used to it.

Today's Overlord Lore segment is a minor little thing, just answering a question someone might or might not have had.

SPELL MODIFIERS

You might have noticed some of these running around. A spell modifier is a prefix that's attached to the spell and changes the effects of the spell in some way in exchange for an increased MP cost.

For example [Silent Magic: Whatever] depicts a spell that doesn't have to be spoken aloud. [Maximize Magic: Whatever] depicts a spell that will certainly do the maximum possible damage it could do. [Continuous Magic], my personal creation, is applicable to spells that have a time limit attached to them, spells that wear off after a while. With a Continuous Spell, after the time limit wears off the spell will keep going instead of fading away, but it will continually drain the user's MP until the spell is cancelled. Very useful in certain circumstances.

There are loads more of these things, and they will show up in the story sooner or later. I recommend using context to try and figure out what they do.

Next up, the character sheet. A character that was kind of silent this chapter.

 **ALBEDO**

 **The Merciful, Pure-White Devil**

 **Alignment-** -500 – Extremely Evil

 **Job-** Overseer of the Guardians. Legal wife (self proclaimed)

 **Residence-** Great Tomb of Nazarick, Throne Hall

 **Racial Level- 30**

Imp Lv.10

Succubus Lv.?

Others- 20

 **Job Level- 70**

Guardian Lv.10

Black Guard Lv.5

Unholy Knight Lv.10

Shield Lord Lv.5

Others- 40

 **HP:** 100

 **MP:** 35

 **Phys. Atk:** 85

 **Phys. Def:** 95

 **Agility:** 60

 **Mag. Atk:** 45

 **Mag. Def:** 95

 **Resistance:** 90

 **Special Ability:** 85

 **Total:** 690

Alright, that's that. A bit less than twenty six thousand words, I hope you all enjoyed them. Once again, please review to let me know what you all thought and I'll see you all again next time when we get to Carne Village part two.

And for those who are no doubt screaming about how the story is so much darker than canon and therefore terrible, I can only say 'be patient and read the next chapter'.

Until chapter six everyone.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six, at long last.

So, this has come up several times in the reviews. Enough so that I've decided to make this little announcement here. On the subject of Momonga's height. I'm aware that some or many of those reading this have watched the Overlord anime. In said anime Momonga is depicted as something of a giant, towering over almost everyone he comes across. I mentioned in the beginning that I'm going off of the Light Novel, not the anime. With that said, in the Light Novel he's not that big.

With that in mind, Momonga's height in this story is 5'9, Herohero is about 4'10 although that is malleable, Lucifer is around 5'2 from head to toe and Tigris Euphrates, at his typical height, is ten feet and change and towering over everyone except Gargantua.

Moving on.

XXXXXXXXX

Chapter 6

XXXXXXXXX

A company of fifty armored riders galloped across the plains under the light of the setting sun. They had no uniform to speak of. Some wore helmets while others went bare headed, others wore plate, or leather armor, or chainmail. Some had swords at their waists, others had maces, others had a number of weapons, but almost all of them carried bows. The only thing that bound them all together was a small badge that was worn proudly wherever they could pin it and the fact that their faces were all visible.

While all of the men were in good shape, the man who rode at the front of the group was particularly striking. He looked around thirty, his skin tanned from long hours in the sun, his body bulging with muscle. His dark hair and beard were neatly trimmed and his eyes, just as dark, had a sharp glint to them that no one could miss.

He glanced to one side as another rider urged his horse forward to ride by his side. "Captain, we're almost upon the first village on our patrol route."

A short nod. "Thank you Lieutenant."

As they crested the next hill, they could see smoke in the distance. Gazef Stronoff, the Captain of the King's Warriors, calmed the unease that rose up in his heart and he did his best to keep his horse at a moderate speed. It had been a long, hard journey from the capital, and he could feel the fatigue caused by many a day's hard ride and far too little rest. It would be even worse for the horse, so he did his best to ease the creature's burden.

His Lieutenant stayed beside him. "I hope that they're alright." As calm as the man tried to appear to be, there could be no hiding the unease he felt, and Gazef felt the same way.

The orders given to them by the King were as follows: 'Imperial Knights have been spotted along the border. Determine the truth of these reports, and if they prove true dispatch the intruders immediately.'

The city of E-Rantel was far closer. Under normal circumstances it would have been easier to dispatch troops from that city's garrison rather than dispatch Gazef from the capital. Unfortunately, the Imperial Knights were powerful, well trained, and well equipped. The common conscripts that could be found in E-Rantel would be no match for them. The only ones that could stand up to the Empire's Knights would be Gazef, his own band of hand-picked warriors, and the elite knights who held the honor of protecting the Kingdom's royal family.

Regardless, handing the entire matter to Gazef and his men without any further support was an act of lunacy.

While Gazef travelled the long miles between the capital and the eastern border, troops from E-Rantel could have been deployed to scout the surrounding area to locate the knights and determine their exact numbers. While it was true that the city's soldiers would find the task of defeating the knights themselves impossible, they could have found a holding action to prevent the enemy from doing any substantial harm.

But none of that had been done.

Gazef knew why and the knowledge filled him with agitation. Although he tried to keep his thoughts and feelings on the matter buried deep down, it was all he could do not to do something rash.

"Captain, it's the height of foolishness to have us do this job alone. Why couldn't we have brought in the entire warrior band from the capital? Or we could have hired Adventurers in E-Rantel. While we couldn't expect them to fight the Empire's Knights alongside us, we could certainly have them scout the area and protect the villages. Why haven't we done any of that? Why are we doing this job ourselves like this?"

"Enough Lieutenant. If news got out that knights from the Empire were running around in the kingdom's backyard… well it wouldn't be good for anybody."

The man frowned. "Captain, there's nobody here. You don't have to stand on ceremony so I hope you can tell me the truth." His lieutenant gave Gazef a wry smile. "Was it those nobles?"

Gazef was torn. He was proud to have such a capable subordinate, but at the same time it became a curse once in a while. He was too damned observant. As much as he would like to say what he wanted, the massive warrior kept his silence.

His subordinate took his silence for affirmation and his face twisted into a scowl. "Those damned greedy pigs, putting the common people in situations like this just for their power struggles. And in the king's own territory no less! This is nothing less than a deliberate attempt to sabotage him and his good name!"

The man's voice had no lack of vehemence. He couldn't let him keep on going like that. "Not all nobles think that way."

If anything it only added to his Lieutenant's ire. "Maybe you're right, maybe there are some aristocrats who think of the common people. Like Princess Renner. But she's the only one out there as far as I can tell. "

Gazef stayed quiet, and the younger man finally ran out of vitriol. He looked over the dusky plains and wistfully sighed. Then he continued, softer, calmer. "Maybe if the Kingdom became a Dictatorship we could put those pigs to work for the good of the people. Maybe that would be better."

The Captain shook his head at that. "Things are too unstable for any ideas like that. All you're suggesting would do is cause a civil war that would destroy this country. The Empire would jump on us the second we turned on one another, and then the only good the common man will find is that bestowed by the Blood Emperor."

His second in command just shook his head "I know that, but…."

"Just leave the matter aside for…."

Gazef saw something that stopped him mid-sentence.

From a distance, the smoke from the village up ahead looked fairly normal. But now that they were closer they could see that it wasn't just a plume of smoke, but thick billowing clouds of it.

Nobody was ignorant of what that meant.

Everyone kicked their horses into a gallop and they raced forward until they passed over the next hill and could see the source of the smog.

It was exactly what they expected. A massive patch of ground burned black, with only a few skeletons of burned houses serving as grave markers for what once stood there.

There was no time to waste. Gazef bellowed out "Everybody get in there! Find any survivors and keep them safe!"

Gazef kicked his mount to an even faster speed, his men racing to keep up with him.

It took an hour to search the village. It was ugly.

Only the skeletons of the old houses gave any hint as to what things were like before. Walking between those charred wooden bones, all you could smell was blood and burning and ash and wood smoke. If all of that didn't cause eyes to water, blinking the ash out of one's eyes certainly helped.

Gazef kept himself calm. There wasn't a hint of emotion on his face. At the same time, no expression could show what he felt more clearly. His Lieutenant walked beside him, much the same.

Over a hundred villagers had lived here. Six had lived through the horrors that descended upon the place. Everyone else was shown no mercy, whoever or whatever they may have been. No matter what they offered, no matter how they begged, man or woman, old or young, they all fell to sword or fire.

It took a while before he finally found his voice. "Luin, assign a detail to escort the survivors to E-Rantel."

His Lieutenant looked at him in shock for a moment. "You can't be serious, Captain if we do that-"

"Yes, it's a serious risk. But we can't leave those people alone like this." Gazef did his best to keep his voice smooth and calm. He mostly succeeded.

E-Rantel was under the direct supervision of the King, and protecting the city's surrounding territories was the King's duty. Abandoning the survivors of this tragedy would besmirch the name of royal family. It was easy to imagine how the nobles who worked against the King would take the opportunity to stir up trouble where it wasn't wanted. More importantly than that though-

"Please reconsider Captain. The survivors all testified that the Imperial Knights are responsible for this. We can consider that as having fulfilled the first half of his Majesty's decree. I propose that we return to E-Rantel and gather reinforcements. We'll come back with a small army to bring the fight to these invaders."

Gazef took in a deep breath, struggling not to choke on the ash. But his answer was firm. "No"

"Captain! You should know by now that this is a trap! This attack happened almost the same time as we arrived in E-Rantel! They waited until we were here before committing these atrocities, and the survivors were only spared to act as bait. You cannot have missed this, so why?!" Luin was getting agitated, he couldn't understand, and Gazef couldn't truly blame him.

He tried to buy some time to organize his thoughts by looking around at the village's charred remains. It was ugly, but Gazef had a feeling that this business was only going to get uglier. His Lieutenant was correct, there was no doubt about that. The villagers that lived through the attack didn't survive because they were fast enough or clever enough to escape or hide. They were alive because the knights deliberately left them alive. He was well aware that it was probably a plot to weaken him by forcing him to divide his troops.

After several long moments, it was Luin who filled the silence. "Captain, you intend to dispatch those warriors even knowing that this is a trap?"

"…yes."

"Why!? Captain, you're powerful, you could undoubtedly defeat a hundred knights all on your own. But the Empire has that famous spellcaster, to say nothing of their vaunted Four Knights. Under-equipped as you are any one of the Four would be a serious threat, and even with the Kingdom's Treasures it's doubtful that we could defeat Fluder Paradyne. This is clearly an ambush in the making, we're going to run into at least one of those people before this is over. I beg of you to please reconsider, let us fall back to the city and regroup. The King can afford to lose a few villagers, he can afford to lose a handful of frontier villages, but he cannot afford to lose you!" Gazef felt kind of bad for doing this to Luin, and once again he was reminded that his lieutenant was fairly young, not even twenty five. The lad practically had tears in his eyes.

Gazef remained silent, and his Lieutenant read something in that because he started to calm down. Then he changed tactics. "If you won't consider falling back, then let us go forward. All of us. We leave right now, and we carry on tonight. A hard ride while the enemy is sleeping. Aimon and Bertrand were rangers once upon a time, they can track the enemy's horses and keep us on the right path despite the darkness. We'll catch the enemy unawares and finish this before they can do any more harm."

He finally spoke up and responded to Luin's proposals. "That's probably the wisest course. But if we did that it would mean leaving those six behind. Do you honestly believe that those people can survive on their own long enough to get to the city?"

The Lieutenant remained silent. Because he knew the answer. He knew that the chances of those people reaching safety without help were nonexistent. They would be dead in three days or less.

Still, the Luin spoke. He had no choice. "…Captain, you are more valuable than everyone else here put together. The lives of those villagers are nothing in comparison."

Gazef was well aware why his Lieutenant would make such a cold decision. And he was angry. Angry at himself for forcing things to this point, and angry at this whole situation and whoever was behind it for forcing him to do this.

But as bad as the situation was, he could not comply with the young man's request.

"I was born a commoner, you know."

Luin perked up at that.

Gazef looked him right in the eye and said "And so were you."

The young man looked unabashed. "Yes, I was born a commoner. And I joined the army because I admired you and I wanted to be something more than just some helpless farmer. Then I proved my ability, and you decided that I had what it took to become more than a simple foot soldier."

Gazef nodded. "You were born in a village, and you lived in one just like this for quite a while yes?"

Luin frowned. "Yes but I fail to see what that has to do with-"

"Life in a village is hard. Death is never far away. It isn't uncommon for a village to be attacked by some monster and for many lives to be lost. Am I wrong?"

"No… no you are not."

Gazef continued, while Luin was still thinking. "When a monster shows up, the rank-and-file soldiers are hard pressed to deal with it. If the village doesn't have enough money to hire Adventurers to save them, all they can do is hunker down and hide until it goes away."

"…That's right."

"Well then, can you honestly say that you didn't hope for rescue? That you didn't hope for the King take action, or some noble, or anyone else strong enough to come to your aid? To everyone's aid?"

A fire lit up in Luin's eyes again as he looked up at those words. "Yes, maybe I did. Not that it mattered. But the fact is that nobody ever did. At the very least, the lord of the land who held sway over my village never reached into those pockets we filled for him to pay for Adventurers to help us."

"If that's the case…." Gazef reached out a hand and put it on the young man's shoulder. "Why don't we prove that we're not like him? Come on, let's go save those people."

The Lieutenant looked down at his boots, and said nothing.

"Luin, let's show those villagers what heroes look like when they plunge into danger to save others without a thought to their own safety. Let's show them how the strong will save the weak."

The younger man looked up, meeting Gazef's eyes. A long moment passed before Luin finally spoke again.

"Fine. But allow me to lead the men. You lead the survivors back to the city. There are plenty of men who can replace me, but there isn't anyone alive who can fill your shoes Captain. Let me handle this mess."

Gazef smiled. "Don't be foolish. I'm more likely to survive this mess than you. And remember, we're not going forward to die, we're going forward to save the people of the kingdom."

Luin opened his mouth, as if to speak, but closed it while he looked down at the ground. This repeated itself several times, but finally he decided to remain silent.

Gazef nodded. "If we're in agreement, go and choose the men who will return to E-Rantel with you."

The Lieutenant just nodded and walked off.

Half an hour later, Luin and five other men left the village and set off towards E-Rantel to the south, the crimson evening sunlight lighting the way through the twilight. Each of them rode double with a survivor of the massacre as they galloped for safety, shouting that they would drop off their charges and catch up.

Gazef watched them ride away with pride for a few long moments. Then he got his remaining warriors together and set off toward the east, the same direction that the six survivors said that the knights headed once their butchery was complete.

The king's champion and his men were ignorant of the forces that watched them as they went, and so they paid the watchers no mind.

That was the start of several ugly weeks for Gazef Stronoff.

They rode hard, they ate and slept little, they did everything they could to catch up with the ones who would dare trespass into their country and harm its people. But despite all of the effort, the Knights they pursued continued to elude them. And the people paid the price for it.

Every few days they would come to another village, not at all dissimilar to the first that they had found. In every case they found a handful of survivors, sometimes more and sometimes less, that would point them in the direction the knights headed after they were done with the slaughter.

And each time this happened Gazef detailed another handful of men to see these survivors to safety.

Gazef started with fifty of his hand-picked warriors. Now he was down to twenty. Twenty men who had eaten nothing but jerky and hardtack for three weeks, and had slept in the saddle rather than camping, getting at most three hours of rest each night if they were lucky, riding horses that were at least half dead. But still they carried on.

Until, joyous day of joyous days, one day when the sun was just beginning to set they finally found a village that had been spared the torment of the others.

Bursting with questions, Gazef Stronoff led his men down the hill, and toward the village that had somehow managed to survive the Empire's aggression. They rode forward with all speed, desperate for rest, desperate for supplies, desperate for answers, ignorant of what waited before them, and ignorant of what stalked behind.

XXXXXXXXX

Tigris Euphrates darted forward through the underbrush, agile as a gazelle and twice as swift. And he was bored out of his mind.

It had been some time since he left the torched goblin village behind and set out to the northern part of the forest to look for the monster the Goblin Chief described, and so far all he had to show for it was a whole lot of wasted time and a whole bunch of monster kills to his name. Not that they could really be described as proper enemies.

A quick jump to a nearby tree branch let him climb higher in short order so that he could catch a glimpse of the sun over the thick canopy.

He made a disgusted sound when he saw that the sun was already past the high point and headed west. 'An entire morning's worth of running around and then some with practically nothing to show for it. That has to be a record, getting so little done.'

He stepped off the branch he was standing on and descended through the tangled branches to land lightly on his feet. Then he started walking again, heading east, his little coterie right behind him. 'Still' he tried to console himself 'it wasn't all for nothing. The big hit was that tip about the three monsters to the west, east, and south, but we also found out that the things living in these woods aren't worth worrying about.' A sigh. 'Unfortunately, nothing ELSE in this forest is worth worrying about either.'

No caves worth the name, at least none that he had found thus far. No monsters worth the name, no plants worth harvesting, no minerals worth mining, nothing. 'I'm getting flashbacks to when my level was in the 'teens and stuff like this would actually be useful.'

He wasn't expecting much of the Giant of the East and whatever the other two were called. If the creatures in the forest were all as pathetic as they had proven themselves to be then it couldn't be expected for the bosses to be much better. If they were even level forty he'd be surprised.

'And if all of that wasn't enough I have to be on a wild goose chase for this 'world eating monster' that's supposed to be in the northern forest. Well HERE I AM! The northern forest! Where is this thing!?'

Tigris tried not to let his agitation show, but he wasn't sure how good he was doing on that front. What annoyed him most was the idea, the possibility, that the Goblin Chief was lying to him and had spent its last words just to annoy him and cause him to waste time. That would have been galling beyond belief.

'If it turns out that he actually played me like that then I'm going to resurrect him and then kill him again. In fact, I might just do that anyway for not giving me good directions. 'In the North' he said, 'A terrifying beast sleeps' he said. I'm probably on my way to find something that finds goblins tasty and doesn't give a fuck about the rest of the world. That would just be my luck, something innocuous and useless.'

It turned out that 'the northern forest' was a big place. Without any landmarks to look for or information about the monster in question he not only had no idea what he was looking for but also had no idea where to find it beyond a vague rough direction.

After another fifteen minutes of fruitlessly stalking the forest Tigris brushed aside yet another tree branch and stepped out into a clearing. A quick glance around revealed nothing of note. The grass was short and there was a lack of fallen branches or other debris that one might expect there. Nothing stood out, but the fact that there was nothing was in and of itself worrying.

'Still, I suppose this spot is as good as any. And even if there is anything lying in wait I doubt it will be any more dangerous than anything else here. But, I suppose, just in case…. '

He turned back to his followers. "All of you guys can take a break. Rest, relax, do whatever, just make sure that we aren't ambushed. I have to make a call."

As the creatures following him leaped to do his bidding, the red giant stalked over to one of the larger trees and leaned against it. "[Message]"

In his mind it felt like three strings flew out into the world to connect with the people he wanted to talk to.

He waited a second and then started talking. "Aura, Mare, Lupu, can you hear me?"

"I'm here, what's your command Tigris Euphrates-sama?"

"I-I'm here as w-well Tigris Euphrates-sama."

"I always have time for my creator Tigris Euphrates-sama."

He shifted to get a little bit more comfortable, then looked up into the sky as he spoke into thin air. "Have any of you found anything yet regarding these so called masters of the forest?"

Mare sounded skittish, but then again he always did. "S-sorry Tigris Euphrates-sama, but I haven't found t-this Giant of the East yet. I've found goblins, ogres and some trolls but nothing has stood out. I'm p-planning to capture something as soon as its alone and see if I can g-get it to talk."

"I see, sounds like a good plan so far. Proceed as you see fit."

"Ah, t-thank you very much Tigris Euphrates-sama!"

'Damn, a little praise and the kid just lights up, from skittish to giddy in seconds.' "Lupu, how about you?"

"Um, sorry to say but we have yet to locate the Serpent of the West suu~. Solu-chan has been watching for tracks and maybe she'll find something but we haven't seen anything resembling a serpent yet. Sorry Tigris Euphrates-sama. But we won't give up su~! We'll keep looking until we find it!"

'And she went from bright and cheery to down and dreary just as fast.' "Well, relax. I haven't done much better with this supposedly legendary creature. I'm sure you'll find something eventually. Aura, how about you? Any luck?"

He tried to sort out Lupusregina's spirited reply to hear what Aura was saying, it was kind of hard but he managed. "I'm sorry to say that we have yet to locate this 'Beast of the South'. There are strange animal tracks all over the place, so we're probably in the right place. That goblin mentioned that this thing regularly attacks intruders, so I've been thinking of using bait. Either having one of my beasts stop trying to be stealthy or, if that doesn't work, going to grab some goblins or an ogre or something and dragging them down here."

"There are goblins down there? I didn't see any while I was running around over there."

Aura made a little sound, Tigris couldn't be sure but he thought that the girl might have shrugged. "Sorry Master but I don't know what to tell you there. Sure, there aren't any down here but I spotted three villages a few miles north. Those little suckers are thicker than lice near the middle of the forest."

'Oh, did I somehow miss all of those goblins? Well, no point in worrying about it. I'm not a ranger after all.' "Well, it sounds like you have things well in hand, keep up the good work."

There was a small giggle over the line "Thank you Tigris Euphrates-sama, I am unworthy of such praise." It sounded like the little dark elf was trying to hide that she was as pleased as punch. It didn't work though, her voice gave it away as plain as day. He ignored the grumbling that came from the other two lines. Jealousy was unbecoming.

"Well, it sounds like you all have been making progress so I'll let you get back to your work. I, meanwhile, will get back to trying to find this 'world devouring monster'. Wish me luck."

"Good luck Tigris Euphrates-sama!"

"G-good luck."

"Good luck-su~!"

Tigris ended the communication without another word. 'I didn't mean that literally you know.'

"You know, it's not a good sign to be talking to yourself."

The giant moved faster than anything that size should, barely a blur as he darted forward and spun, activating [Heatskin] as he put ten meters between himself and whatever had managed to sneak up on him before he stopped and examined things.

His hand never left his sword's hilt as he took in the new arrival. Short, maybe four feet tall, its skin had a wooden texture to it and was colored in various shades of yellow, from a deep gold to being so pale as to be almost white. Its eyes were large and wide, almost pitch black like those of an animal although that was belied but the clear intelligence behind them. From what he could see where it stood in the low bushes it didn't wear any clothing. The skin, if it could be called skin, was a flat expanse without any kind of feature. Although, he noted as it took a tentative step forward and into the clearing, it seemed to have a long skirt made of leaves. Its hair was the same gold as-

'Wait, that's not hair.'

"Whoa, there's no need to freak out! I was just saying, talking to yourself is a bad sign. You moved really really fast though! I can't remember the last time I saw something so big move so fast!"

The creature's 'hair' was actually a bunch of golden yellow leaves. They did an admirable job of mimicking normal hair though, you wouldn't notice the difference at first glance. With that detail, Tigris identified his 'assailant' as a dryad and therefore harmless. He relaxed his guard as he held out one hand to the side to stop his coterie from attacking the unexpected intruder.

'So much for watching out for an ambush, this thing was right on top of me before anyone noticed anything.'

"Um, those things aren't going to attack me are they?" The dryad sounded nervous, anxious, afraid as it, (she?), looked at the undead creatures and strange monsters that she had probably never seen before.

Tigris looked over at the Eight Edge Assassins and the two Liches and shook his head. "No, don't worry, they won't do anything to hurt you." He glanced back over to the dryad. "Assuming, of course, that you don't intend to attack us."

"Huh?" she shook her head and put her hands in front of her. "Me, attack you guys? No no no no no, you don't need to worry. I'm not very fond of violence. But, um…." She went from worried to almost sheepish. "If you could do me a favor and stop, um, burning, that would be really nice."

"Hmm?" Tigris was confused for a moment before he glanced at one arm and realized that he was smoking. White steam rose up from his skin and small flames licked across his red flesh. He cancelled the [Heatskin]. The odds of this creature actually hitting him dropped to zero once he got a bit of distance so keeping it up was just a waste of mana at this point.

"Ah, thank you. That's a big load off my mind." The dryad visibly relaxed once the tiny fires went out and the steam stopped.

Tigris shrugged. "Not a problem. Now then, would you mind introducing yourself? If I'm right, you're a dryad but I wouldn't want to assume."

She smiled. "Wow, it's pretty rare that I run into someone polite. That's right, I am a Dryad. My name is Pinison Pol Perlia, it's a pleasure to meet you. Now, if you don't mind me asking, who are you? And, well, what are you? I've never seen anything like you guys before."

That was when one of the Eight Edge Assassins could take no more. "How dare you ask questions of a Supreme Being!? Know your place you overgrown shrub and bow down before you are incinerated where you stand." The creature's voice was a chittering, buzzing rasp but its meaning, and cold anger, could be perfectly understood. Its brethren and the two undead behind it seemed to be of a similar disposition.

The dryad's, Pinison's, eyes widened and she took a step back into the foliage as Tigris whirled on the one that spoke up and bent over to grab its head in one hand.

He lifted the creature up to his own head height and spoke in a furious whisper "Listen you, I'm trying to have a polite conversation here. So here's what's gonna happen. I'm gonna set you down, then you will apologize to the dryad, and then you will step back with the rest and you will not speak again until you are spoken to. Am I clear?"

The Eight Edge Assassin was suspended almost four meters off of the ground, its head held in Tigris' hand like he would hold an orange and its body dangling below so it couldn't actually nod, but he could feel its neck muscles twitching in what Tigris assumed was the creature's best attempt at it. The red giant dropped it without another word and pointedly glanced at the denizen of the forest.

It landed lightly on its feet and took a moment to regain its senses before turning to the dryad and bending low at the waist. "You have my most sincere apologies for my rudeness." It spoke low and quickly, the cold fury gone and replaced by raw fear. Before any reply could be made it immediately turned and joined the crowd of heteromorphic beings behind it.

Tigris spared a glance toward the lot of them, making sure that they knew that he would tolerate no further interruptions. This was the first intelligent thing that they had run into in this forest that was actually worth talking to. He had no intention of letting them screw things up.

He turned back to the dryad, which was now glancing between him and the Eight Edge Assassins with a look of awe and anxiety, and engaged in just a bit of due diligence. A silent 'Enemy Scan' caused a screen of light to appear before his face.

The giant tried to conceal his unease at the fact that the effect was plainly visible and dismissed it immediately, but not before he saw what he wanted to see. The name 'Pinison Pol Perlia' was there plain as day and was colored a pale purple.

Information was scarce in YGGDRASIL. In most cases the only information you could get on an enemy was its species, its name if it had one, and its level in comparison to yours. That light shade of purple meant that it was somewhere between eighty five to eighty nine levels below him, putting her somewhere between level eleven and level fifteen. In other words, not even a threat to one of the Liches much less Tigris himself. Any remaining worry about combat ceased to be. This thing wasn't a threat to anything.

He put on a big toothy grin as he stepped forward towards the spooked plant spirit. "My apologies as well for the rudeness of my servant. They should know better than to interrupt an ongoing discussion." He sent a venomous glance towards the group again before turning back to Pinison. "Now then, to answer your question, the two creatures back there in the robes are what are known as Liches, an undead breed of spellcaster."

The dryad went from anxious to scared in a heartbeat and it immediately darted back into the bushes to hide behind the nearest tree.

"Are you crazy!? Why on earth are you walking around with the undead! Those things despise all life, they'll attack you the moment you let your guard down!"

"Hey, relax, relax…" Tigris slowly closed the distance between himself and the local, trying to keep his voice upbeat and encouraging. 'In hindsight, mentioning that might not have been a good idea.' "I assure you that these creatures are perfectly loyal to me and will do you no harm. And even if they decided to try something I would have no difficulty dispatching them. Now the rest of my companions are a type of insect creature called an Eight Edge Assassin. They are fairly potent fighters with stealth capabilities."

Pinison poked a golden head out from behind the tree, her eyes fixed on the two undead abominations. "Are you sure that those things are under control?"

Tigris smiled all the wider. "Perfectly." Things were going fairly well. At the very least, she stepped out from behind the tree. However, she didn't step out of the bushes again and she never let her eyes stray from the two Liches.

Just for a moment she glanced up at him before returning her eyes to what she apparently deemed the most dangerous things here. "A-and what exactly are you? I've never heard of anything that leads both insects and the undead."

The red man got a few steps closer. "I, my dear, am one of the Efreet. Quite a powerful species, let me tell you. Now that I've answered your questions, I'm hoping you could answer another of mine. I've been looking around this forest all day looking for some things. Firstly, do you know of any civilizations of intelligent beings that live in this forest anywhere? Elves perhaps? Or some other race maybe?"

Tigris held his breath as the dryad tilted her head, as though thinking, but his heart sank when she replied "No."

"Ah"

The creature went on before he could ask again "There used to be a village of dark elves that lived here a long, long time ago, but they left."

'Well, that's disappointing.' But Tigris didn't let his thoughts color his words. "I see. Then by any chance are there any other dryads like you in this forest?"

Pinison remained still, her eyes trained on the two undead for a few long silent moments before she answered. "I don't think there are any others like me. But I can't stray too far from my birth tree for very long, so who knows. Maybe there are other dryads elsewhere in the forest. If there are, I've never met them. You asked two questions, so I've got two for you. Where did you come from, and what else are you looking for?"

Tigris smiled, then chuckled. "I come from a land, from a far away place, where the caravan camels roam."

The dryad glanced at him for just a second, clearly confused, before she refocused her eyes on the two Liches. The undead monsters were quite clearly uncomfortable at this point.

"That's not really an answer."

The Efreeti just shrugged, it was a shame she didn't get it but that was asking a bit much. "You asked, and I answered. And not a word of it was false." There were desert areas in YGGDRASIL after all.

"As for the other thing I'm looking for, well, I'm looking for something that someone told me was here. He said that a world devouring monster lived in the northern forest. I'm here to find it."

Pinison's expression went from slightly confused to the utmost shock as she stared straight at Tigris, the undead completely forgotten. "You want to find Zy'tl Q'ae!? What on earth are you looking for that thing for!? If you know what's good for you then you should leave it alone, it's way too dangerous!"

With that one sentence, Tigris regained all of the interest that he had been losing throughout this conversation. He took a step forward, his smile widening, his eagerness obvious to anyone. "You actually know its name? Wonderful! Please, you have to tell me where it is, and what it looks like."

The Dryad had to look almost straight up to look him in the eye but she managed it. "Absolutely not! I don't know who told you about it, but you called him a 'world devouring monster'. That description doesn't even begin to do justice to that… thing! We may have only just met but I'm not going to stand by and let you guys get yourselves killed for no reason. Take my word for it and leave it alone."

Tigris' smile began to fade. "I appreciate your concern, but I must insist. Believe me when I say that I'm quite capable of handling this creature, whatever it may be. My strength is not to be underestimated. Now, please, tell me what I wish to know."

"Absolutely not!"

The Efreeti stood only a few feet from the determined dryad now. The sun was at his back, casting the little spirit into shadow. From her perspective Tigris looked like nothing more than a giant patch of darkness with a pair of golden eyes. "Is there nothing I could say that might change your mind?"

Pinison shook her little golden head. "No! Nothing! You guys may be weird, but I have no intention to send you guys off to get yourselves killed. There's absolutely no reason to put yourselves in such danger, to say nothing of the chance that you might wake Zy'tl Q'ae up. Right now he's fast asleep and the world is safe. It's better for everyone involved if you just leave him alone and forget you ever heard about him. Please!"

Tigris just closed his eyes shook his head, beard swaying slightly in the breeze.

When he opened his eyes again the anger he displayed at the Eight Edge Assassin had returned.

Fire erupted all over his frame, tongues of orange and blue flickering all over his body. The dryad wasted no time stumbling back away from him.

He spoke again, and his voice was like the crackle of burning trees, the roar of an inferno. "If you won't tell me what I want to know when I ask nicely, then I'm afraid we'll have to do this the hard way. You have a choice dryad-san, you may tell me what I want to know about this Zy'tl Q'ae, or I start burning things."

The fiery giant looked around though the haze of smoke that rose from his figure, and Pinison followed his eyes, her face a picture of horror. "I don't know which of these trees is your real body, but I'm sure that if I keep burning things then I'll find it before long. And if I burn even more I'll eventually find what I'm looking for even if it takes a while."

He loomed over the dryad that was now cowering in fear. "Well? Do you feel so concerned for my safety now?"

She flinched back from the heat of the flames playing over his red skin, and flinched again when she looked into those pitiless yellow eyes.

Finally, after a few moments of silence save for the crackling and spitting of the blaze, she looked away toward the ground and gave him what he wanted. "Zy'tl Q'ae is an evil treant. He came to this land long, long ago even before I was born. When I was young, he woke up and chased off the dark elves that lived in this forest. A lot of other things happened, but I doubt you care. Right now he's asleep in a forest glade a few miles over that way." She pointed off to the northeast, obviously trying to control the limb's shivering.

Pinison let her arm fall to her side and continued on, her voice somehow clear, but desolate and cold. "The trees around him have started to wither away in the past few days, he's probably starting to wake up again. So, go on. Go and get yourself eaten. Better that Zy'tl Q'ae partially awaken again than for you to start burning the forest down. Maybe someone will come along and save us all like last time." Rather than scared, she just sounded dejected.

Tigris nodded and the fires went out. "Thank you for your cooperation." He turned toward the direction the dryad indicated and started walking, leaving Pinison to shrink back into the bushes. She flinched when she heard his voice ring out "Before we go, you, grab that dryad real quick."

The forest spirit looked up and flinched back towards the nearest tree as she saw one of the insectoid creatures start to move but she was far, far too slow. Before she could move more than an inch she was seized by several chitinous limbs and dragged out into the clearing that she had been looking after for so long.

She struggled against the creature's hold to no avail. It was far too strong for her to escape from. "Why!?" she cried out at the giant's retreating back. "I told you what you wanted to know! Leave me alone!"

He stopped and turned to face her. "There's a chance, just a chance, that you're lying to me. If that turns out to be the case, I'd rather that you be nearby so I don't have to trudge all the way back here. Take her with us and follow me." With that last sentence delivered to her captors the Efreeti darted forward into the foliage and Pinison Pol Perlia found herself dragged along for the ride.

"AAAAAAHHH! Let. Me. Go. You. Brute!" The creature held her by the shoulders and the calves, easily holding her aloft as it ran at what she considered an absurd speed through the foliage, jumping forward towards solid oaks and yew trees only to stick to the sides as though gravity did not exist before bounding forward and over the thorn bushes and shrubs that she was familiar with.

From the corner of her eye she could see the other humanoid insects making their way forward in the same fashion while the two Liches flew above them all, easily navigating the high branches. But despite the speed that they moved, the red giant was little more than a crimson and blue blur moving through the trees ahead of them with remarkable grace.

No matter how much she struggled she couldn't get the slightest bit of leeway from her captor, each of the four limbs that held her were like iron and they never lost their grip as they carried her along through all the bumps and jolts and shocks of the ride. After a few minutes of struggling she finally went limp and gave up on the idea of escape.

'It's not like I could run away from them even if I did get loose. This speed is just absurd, it's completely unsafe.'

They paid no attention to the dryad's grumblings, spoken or otherwise. Every one of the creatures only paid attention to where they were going so as to keep up with the one who led them.

It took a while, but not very long before the Eight Edge Assassin leapt from the side of a tree trunk over a small stream only to come to a sudden stop when it beheld the Efreeti gazing over a large grove of trees.

Pinison glanced around and started shivering again. While she _probably_ couldn't die without her tree being cut down, no matter what happened to this form, she had never tested it and never wanted to. And this was the place where she was certain that she was the closest to discovering what might happen.

The area was a fortress of greenery. Massive, majestic trees with trunks thicker than a man was tall could be seen in every direction, reaching high above and spreading their branches over a huge area to carpet the entire place in shadow. Vines and moss coated more surfaces than they didn't which only added more green to the picture. Grass and vibrant flowers formed a thick carpet with mushrooms forming around the bases of the massive plants that provided the shade on which they thrived. It was a beautiful landscape, one that would make a spirit of the forest like Pinison proud.

But aside from the burbling of the nearby stream the entire area was completely silent. No birds sang in the branches, no squirrels darted across the ground and ran up and down the tree trunks, no deer or rabbits or bears drank at the stream, no insects buzzed and tended to the flowers. And Pinison was well aware of the cause. The animals of the forest knew of this place, and they wisely avoided it.

In the middle of the grove was the blight that kept the scene from perfection.

A massive ray of light broke through the canopy and illuminated the ring of gray which marred the otherwise picturesque grove. Within that ring stood half a dozen of the giant trees, the vines and moss gone from their trunks, their wood gray and brittle, their branches broken and bare of leaves which let all the sunlight in. The grass was dead, the flowers and mushrooms gone, nothing survived that tainted soil. And in the middle of the ring was a tree that was a bit bigger than all the others. Silent, still, and unremarkable but for a subtle air of purest malice.

The very sight of it filled the dryad's heart with ice.

Tigris Euphrates glanced around, always keeping one eye on the blighted area, and then turned to face her. "This is it?"

She kept her eyes on the massive tree, and tentatively nodded. "That's it. Right now it's asleep, but you can see the effect it has on everything around it. This is bad, it's absorbing life faster than I thought. The corruption was less than half this size yesterday. At this rate, a partial awakening will probably happen with another fifty or sixty sunrises. Then nothing within ten miles will be safe. Including me."

Pinison watched with open dread as the giant moved closer to the tree in the center without even the slightest caution. Why could the fool not recognize that he was in severe danger!? At the very least the insect released her legs, so she could at least stand.

The Eight Edge Assassins stayed back and watched as Tigris Euphrates continued forward, and the two undead hovered high above their heads and watched the surrounding area. Finally, Tigris stopped and jumped back away from the tree. Then he started cracking his knuckles. "Okay, I'm pretty sure I know what to do next."

The dryad perked up at that. "So you finally agree with me? You've seen sense? Good, let's leave immediately! This place is way too dangerous!"

Tigris just raised an eyebrow. "Leave? Hell no. I think I know how to get its attention. Although drawing aggro isn't something I'm typically willing to do, I do have a few skills that can get me a distraction when I need one." He turned back to the tree as Pinison's jaw dropped.

"W-w-w-what!? Why would you want to do that!? Couldn't that accidentally wake up the tree!?"

"That's the idea!"

The nonchalance behind that simple statement struck the dryad like a hammer between the eyes. How could anyone possibly be so careless, so disrespectful of a clear and potent danger? "Y-you lunatic! You're going to get us all killed!"

Before she could say more her arms were painfully forced behind her back and she noticed that every one of the creatures surrounding her were looking less than pleased.

One leaned close, its multi-faceted eyes maybe an inch away from hers. "Listen closely you piece of plywood." The thing's voice buzzed and warbled in a way that reminded her of an insect's wings, the same as before. "If the Supreme Being did not give orders before to not harm you then you would have already been slain for this insult."

The malice behind the creature's words was palpable, and the little forest spirit was forcefully reminded of the creature's strength as its hard fingers dug into her shoulders. "Tigris Euphrates-sama is a being that far surpasses any god. So watch. Your. Tongue. Or I will take it out and accept the consequences. Now, watch, and you shall find that this creature is nothing before the might of our master."

That was when everything went to hell.

The massive tree in the middle of the glade twitched and shifted, the entire thing swelling and growing. The creaking of the wood and cracking of bark resounded through the place as its six massive branches studded with leaves descended from the canopy, growing longer and thicker as they did so. On the trunk, near the base, what looked like a giant crack slowly opened, revealing a massive opening that could only be considered a mouth, the jagged wood and bark serving as gargantuan teeth. The rustling of leaves and the cracking of wood and bark as the tree that had been dormant for so long began its first tentative movements could only be described as a horrific roar greater than any beast.

Pinion Pol Perlia felt her blood run cold at the sight, while Tigris Euphrates only smiled.

He glanced back at the stunned dryad. "You know, that thing's actually pretty big."

She could only look on in horror at the sight as the colossal treant's branches whipped down and began uprooting the nearest trees. "T-t-the main body has woken up! W-we're all doomed!"

The little spirit sounded like she was close to crying, but Tigris paid it no mind, turning his attention to the massive tree. He felt no fear, only a vague excitement as he activated a skill that would calculate the enemy's statistics in more detail. The worst case scenario was that it might be level one hundred or higher, in which case he fully trusted himself to be able to escape. And if that turned out to be impossible for any reason... then he would just have to use the secret weapon he brought with him and that would be that.

He brought one hand up and slowly stroked his beard. The real thing that bothered him was the name. 'Zy'tl Q'ae, I'm not sure where but I'm sure I've heard that name before. But I don't think it was in YGGDRASIL. Where did I hear it, and what does it mean that something in this world has that same name?'

"What are you doing just standing there!? W-wh-what do we do…." The Dryad's panicking devolved into a little scream as she became unable to clearly articulate sentences.

Tigris just ignored her as he slowly walked a circle around the massive plant, careful not to get too close. As the treant ripped up the trees and shoved them into its maw, his analysis was finally completed.

A small screen appeared in front of him, just like before, the most notable items upon it being the diagram of the creature, the colorful name, and the bar graph nearby. "So, let's see, dark blue, that means it should be somewhere between level eighty one and eighty five. Its health is off the charts, and its physical attack is nothing to laugh at either. Physical defense is so-so, magic and agility are piss poor. So, all in all, nothing to worry about."

"What are you muttering about over there!? We have to get out of here right now! I never imagined it would be something that massive! Look, there's nothing we can do about it now! We have to run away, please, come to your senses!"

He ignored the Eight Edge Assassin's growing ire towards the dryad as he continued to observe the monster before him. If he was unconcerned before he was completely carefree now. "Hey, dryad!"

Pinison lifted her golden head to stare at him. Tigris just smiled, his sharp teeth glinting in the fading light. "I want you to watch this closely, because I guarantee that you won't see anything like it again!"

Then he turned back to Zy'tl Q'ae and walked forward almost leisurely, fire popping into existence in one hand. "[Fireball]! Over here you big matchstick!"

As Tigris threw the handful of flame, all of a sudden his metaphorical elbow was jogged. His aim thrown off, the blazing sphere exploded on the giant tree's roots rather than flying into its mouth like he wanted. As Zy'tl Q'ae roared at the sudden assault, Tigris heard a familiar voice in his head. [Hey, Tigris, we need to-]

Tigris hung up before he even got the first sentence out. 'This is no time for Lucifer-san's nonsense' he silently grumbled as he observed the newly blackened patch of bark. It didn't seem to do much damage. But he undoubtedly had the creature's attention.

Bark cracked, and wood creaked in an ungodly roar as one of the massive treant's six branches came whistling down towards him. But to Tigris Euphrates it might as well have been in slow motion. That same fanged smile emerged on his face as he tensed and-

[Did you just hang up on me? Listen, this is-]

The Efreeti cursed as the sudden voice forced itself to the forefront of his thoughts. He stumbled, and immediately ended the call, but in that time the massive branch had closed in. It was too close to dodge.

He snarled as he raised one crimson hand. "[Steal Fate]!"

XXXXXXXXX

Pinison watched with baited breath as the gargantuan branch closed in, certain it was about to smite the foolish creature that had dared to challenge the world eater. But try as she might she couldn't understand what actually happened. "W-what, a, a section of the branch vanished! What the heck just happened!?"

She rubbed at her eyes, but the sight before her didn't change. Tigris Euphrates stood undaunted, one hand raised towards the tree. One of Zy'tl Q'ae's branches had swung down to crush him, he had moved to dodge and stumbled, but when the branch was about to strike its target a section just vanished like it wasn't there. The missing section then reappeared the moment it moved past the massive man and struck the ground without even touching its target.

"That makes no sense whatsoever! What the heck IS he!?"

The Assassin holding her spoke, his voice softer than before though no less cold. "As I said before, you stand before a being that is greater than god. Of course you would not understand his greatness. Now watch." Although it spoke to her, it didn't take any of its eyes off the giant before her. And as the dryad looked around she realized that all of the creatures were similarly entranced. None of them wanted to miss the rare sight of their master in action.

XXXXXXXXX

Tigris Euphrates cursed as the branch struck the ground to his left and blew dust everywhere. He was immune to blindness so it didn't affect his vision, but it was still irritating. Not unlike the fact that he was getting constantly 'Messaged'. 'Seriously, it's like a pop-up ad right in the middle of your thoughts, throws off everything.'

He looked up and saw three more branches hurtling down towards him. 'Okay, enough of this.' Then he started to run.

Correction, he started to _run_.

It would be an insult to call him a blur. Even the fairly high leveled Eight Edge Assassins weren't able to see his movements as he moved in towards the trunk of the massive treant. By the time the massive branches were a fifth of the way to where he was standing Tigris was already at the base of the tree.

Tigris surged around the roots and ran straight past the massive plant.

After a second he reached a distance he considered far enough and turned on a dime as he faced the back of the tree and drew his sword.

The long, curved blade was the glossy pitch black of volcanic glass with deep cracks glowing cherry red separating the entire thing into numerous tiny pieces. Despite the crude appearance, the blade was razor sharp and the entire thing had an aura that looked like a heat haze made of swirling hypnotic colors.

A muttered "[Draconic Power]" passed his lips and as he felt the strength buff fill his body he surged forward at blinding speed.

The branches of Zy'tl Q'ae struck the ground, blowing dirt and grass in all directions. The colossal treant barely had enough time to realize that it had missed when Tigris leapt and slammed the blade home in the middle of its trunk.

The entire tree lurched forward as the stab plunged home, delivering incredible damage and numerous status effects. Massive cracks spider-webbed across the entire trunk from the wound, and those fissures doubled in number as Tigris twisted the blade and pulled it out. Without pausing he started running straight up the splintering outer wood and headed towards the peak as the behemoth continued to tilt forward.

He glanced down at the spreading cracks, trying to calculate just how much damage he delivered. 'Maybe a third? I'm kind of surprised it's still alive. Its Resistance stat wasn't that great.' Tigris' sword did more than just damage. Several diseases, several potent poisons, and the status effects [Blindness], [Paralysis], [Sleep], [Stun], [Daze], [Fear], [Terror], [Confusion], [Insanity], [Curse], [Energy Drain], [Petrification], and [Instant Death] were all delivered with the strike.

In the end he just shrugged. Plants were immune to a lot of things, including critical hits so he didn't get his normal bonus damage from the back-stab. But it just felt wrong to attack an enemy from the front when he had other options.

[Tigris stop dicking around, this is-]

Again he just cancelled the call. 'This is not the time Lucifer-san.'

Zy'tl Q'ae clawed its six branches into the ground to stop its fall and stabilize itself. But as it started to right itself, Tigris reached the section of its trunk where the branches were connected.

He ran around the circumference of Zy'tl Q'ae, striking out at each of the six branches as he moved past. Just like with the attack before, every slash bit deep into the wood, causing huge cracks to form.

[Would you stop-]

Tigris clicked his tongue as he ended the call almost as soon as it began. The sudden interruption made him botch the last slash. 'Eh, whatever. And just for kicks….'

The Efreeti crouched down and tapped the trunk with one hand. "[Rare Hunter]!"

With the feeling of something entering his item box he moved to the 'front' and kicked off the treant's body hurtle toward the ground, a wide lunatic's smile on his face as he fell.

As the ground got closer and closer he reached out his arms and yelled out for all the world to hear "[Time After Time]!"

XXXXXXXXX

For Pinison Pol Perlia, the last hour had been an unprecedented experience. She had visitors for the first time in quite some time, and was subsequently questioned, threatened, kidnapped, and dragged before a monster she had been deathly afraid of since she had learned of its existence.

She had seen numerous powerful people challenge the tree, and all of them had failed. The only success to be had was when only one of its branches awoke. The last time that happened, that group of seven heroes had arrived to destroy it, promising her that they would be back if the treant ever woke up again. She saw that incredible battle, and she was deeply moved by the heroism and teamwork that those adventurers had shown her. She trusted them from the bottom of her heart and truly believed that they would appear to save the forest again when the time came.

And then this big red bearded lunatic showed up and challenged the fully awakened Zy'tl Q'ae on his own.

When three branches came down to smash him, she was certain that Tigris Euphrates was about to be mashed into a pulp. But before the branches got halfway to the ground the entire tree suddenly lurched forward for no reason, its previous creaking howls turned to screams of pain.

Pinison was going to warn her captors to move, that the unthinkable was about to happen and Zy'tl Q'ae was about to fall over when six loud crunching noises resounded through the clearing.

When she looked up she saw a deep black line radiating dark cracks at the base of each of Zy'tl Q'ae's six branches and a red figure jumped from the trunk and started to fall.

It was only at that moment that she realized that Tigris Euphrates had moved from his original position at all.

Then that impossibly deep voice rang out, and while she couldn't hear what it said the results still left her dumbfounded as five of the six branches promptly fell off.

The deep slashes that scarred the wood suddenly became deeper still as a moment of time was forcefully repeated and the damage that was dealt was doubled.

Pinison shielded her eyes as each of the massive appendages struck the earth one by one, each landing accompanied by a flurry of wind that blew dust and grass and flowers into a flurry. Until, finally, the fifth landed and the immediate danger passed.

When the dryad finally looked up she saw Tigris Euphrates standing before her, the same wide, mad smile as before still on his face as Zy'tl Q'ae barely managed to bring its one remaining branch forward to stop its descent. The creature's roots stretched and curled and did their best to keep their hold on the earth as the last battered, mostly severed branch struggled and strained to push the gargantuan trunk back into an upright position.

Those horrible yellow eyes, now dancing with mischief, were turned upon her again and she was utterly speechless at the impossible sight before her.

Tigris didn't say anything. He didn't need to. He just turned to face the tree as it desperately tried to avoid falling. "Honestly" he rumbled "if it wasn't for that interruption I would have severed all six. Instead I botched the job on one, and the doubled damage left it just barely attached. How sloppy."

Pinison barely listened to his complaining as she watched the horror that had threatened her home for as long as she lived was struggling to stay up. Five of the branches severed in one attack. The heroes she had placed so much trust in had fought so desperately for so long just to destroy one. It seemed lopsided, it seemed impossible, it seemed utterly unfair. She didn't know how to begin to approach it. It was all she could do to just stare at the five stumps that were all the remained of the severed limbs, blackened and rotten, and the sixth that was still connected by maybe a meter of wood. All the rest was the dark rot that was spreading from the other diseased wounds.

The creaking noises rose to a feverous pitch and the wounds seemed to clear as though wiped away by some giant cloth. Before her eyes the remaining limb seemed to regain strength and quickly started to right the evil treant to its proper position. On the five stumps, now showing pale white wood free of corruption, new growth began to sprout and take form.

The red giant let out a contemplative sound. "So, it has an ability to purge itself of poison and regenerative capabilities. Not too surprising. Without those this would be even easier than it already is." He relaxed into a stance, his sword held before him. "It doesn't matter. It can't replenish its health quickly enough to make a difference."

Left to its own devices, Zy'tl Q'ae continued to push itself upright with its only remaining branch, and much to Pinison's amazement the lunatic seemed willing to let it do just that. She turned and screamed at him "What the heck are you waiting for!? Now's your chance! Go and get it before it starts attacking again! You won't ever get a better chance than this!"

She ignored how the creature holding her tightened its hold on her shoulders, she kept glaring at Tigris as he brought his free hand to rest on his forehead in a gesture of pure exasperation.

"Honestly, if it's not Lucifer-san constantly 'Messaging' me, and let me tell you he's getting increasingly irate, it's you barking at me." He looked up, seemingly shocked. "I just realized what I said. No, that was not an intentional pun." Then he sighed and turned back to the tree, which was finally getting upright. "Anyway quit telling me what to do. You led me to this thing so I'll make sure you live through this, whatever else might happen, so just sit there and be quiet. I'm trying to figure out how to get this thing to be useful."

'Zy'tl Q'ae? Useful? What the heck is he talking about!?' As the dryad was floored by this latest mad statement from this mad, if apparently powerful, being, Zy'tl Q'ae finally managed to recover from Tigris' first attack, properly righting itself with one final heave. The noise of the mass of wood slammed into the ground was as loud as any other sound the horror made, but the Efreeti was undaunted. That wide toothy smile was back on his face as he strode confidently toward the towering plant.

Zy'tl Q'ae changed tactics. The all devouring maw near the base of the trunk slowly opened wide. As Tigris walked towards it without a care in the world a sound like a cannon firing rang out through the clearing as several large spheres rocketed towards him.

Pinison shouted a warning, but Tigris paid it less attention than he paid the tree's attack. The first two projectiles flew above his head. The third was dispatched with a single diagonal slash, sending the two pieces flying behind him.

Right towards her!

The dryad felt the rush of wind as half of the seed rocketed past just inches to the left of her and struck the Eight Edge Assassin that was holding her and blew it away.

She fell to the ground, her head darting in every direction, hoping to avoid any other attacks. In her panic, she barely noticed the shower of dry skin and shattered bone as the other half of the slashed attack flew up and struck one of the two Liches from the sky. But she quickly noticed how the other two attacks struck the Eight Edge Assassins, crushing two and releasing a foul green mist.

No attention was paid to the look of shock on the giant's face as she ran for whatever safety she could find, all she cared about was escaping from the clouds of green and the group of insect assassins that sought to escape from the same thing. She ran as fast as her short legs could carry her and finally settled in behind one of the grove's huge trees. As cover went it would hopefully withstand at least one blow and give her time to scramble somewhere else.

Pinison peeked out from behind the giant trunk, hoping to at least see what happened next in the battle between to the two things that terrified her more than anything else in the world.

She didn't have to wait long before she was dumbfounded once again.

XXXXXXXXX

Tigris turned away from the scene of the Eight Edge Assassins- his creations- running away from where the two seeds had started spewing poisonous gas, or spores, or whatever the hell that green mist was. His face was a rictus of rage, both at the tree and at his own sloppiness.

"Fuck this, fun's over!"

He sheathed his sword and pointed both hands at Zy'tl Q'ae, palms out.

The treant began to fire its second barrage of seeds when Tigris spoke. "[Time Stop]!"

All around the Efreeti, the world went gray and still. The wind ceased to blow, the stream ceased to move, everything, everywhere, froze in place.

Tigris glanced around and sighed before swiftly closing the distance to the tree. He didn't think that it could break out of this, but he had already underestimated the thing twice.

Before, he had been taking his time and toying with it. He needed something to cut his teeth on, to let him get his old reflexes back. But while Zy'tl Q'ae was no true threat to him, it was more than a match for those he brought with him. 'Although' he thought to himself 'the Assassins are all level seventy, they could maybe take this thing on with some teamwork. The Liches are beyond outclassed though.'

He stood at the base of the treant and laid a hand on one giant, gnarled root. Then he let the Time Stop fade.

The world returned to color and motion, and Tigris wasted no time activating his second spell. "[Stasis]"

Zy'tl Q'ae had less than a second of freedom before the gray and the stillness returned. But this time the effect was only over the tree, everything else remained in motion. This included the second volley of seeds, which followed the paths of their forebears. However, the Eight Edge Assassins had already vacated the area and the projectiles hit the ground and did no harm.

A second noxious cloud arose from the things, but Tigris paid it no mind. The fight was over.

"Hey!" he shouted as he raised one arm. "I saw some of you get hit, any fatalities?"

He walked back to the area where the insectoid creatures had gathered when his question was answered. Three more Eight Edge Assassins stumbled out of the mist and were quickly assisted by their fellows. Tigris felt an undeniable relief at seeing them alive. He wasn't sure that they could be resurrected, and each one was level seventy. While it wasn't as bad as it could be, resurrecting a level seventy would be expensive if it could be done.

There was no need to bother about the Lich. It wasn't an NPC, but an automatically generated creature. Replacing that thing was completely free.

"W-what did you do to it?"

The voice came from one of the nearby trees. A glance proved that it was the dryad, just like he thought.

Tigris shrugged. "It isn't a particularly big deal. I just used 'Stasis' on it and froze it in time."

"F-froze it in time!? How the heck c-can, buh, what!?" The little thing seemed close to panic.

A wide smile made its way back to his face at the sight of her sputtering and gesturing, not really understanding and not knowing what to say. It wasn't every day you saw a dignified spirit of the forest spaz out.

"To answer your question little dryad" He started, deliberately overacting and drowning in pretension "My 'Time Thief' class and my 'Master Time Thief' class both allow me power over forces that most can only imagine. Stealing moments of time to prevent damage, moving time faster or slower, or in this case stopping it altogether, all of that and more is at my fingertips. In this case, I stopped the tree in time so it couldn't do any further harm to anyone in the vicinity. And there it will stay until I say otherwise." He folded his arms and looked down his nose at the little sprite, doing his best to put off a dignified air to look impressive.

And it seemed to work, the dryad looked more than a little awed as it stared at the gray field that surrounded the forest terror. She glanced back to him after a moment "How long will it last?" She sounded tentative, and he didn't really blame her. She knew where she stood with him after all. One word from him and she was kindling.

He turned and gestured towards the tree. "'Stasis' is a Tenth Tier spell, available to me through my Master Time Thief class. Its effect is identical to 'Time Stop' except for two differences. One!" he held up a finger "One, it only affects a single target, rather than everything in an area. Two, unlike the short-lived 'Time Stop' the spell will last until another force dispels it."

The dryad had abandoned her hiding place behind the tree and was slowly getting closer to Zy'tl Q'ae, but Tigris was thinking of other things. Using 'Stasis' like this really brought back memories. 'I used to use this spell all the time back in YGGDRASIL. In battle it was more helpful to use it on an ally to prevent damage than to use it on an enemy, but where it really shone was its use outside of battle.'

A savage smile found its way upon his features when he thought of one of the ways he used to hustle the other players. It was possible to use 'Stasis' on almost anything or anyone. So he went around and used it on NPCs that played major parts in popular Quests. Particularly NPCs related to the Quests popular with level fifty to sixty players. At that point those Players didn't have access to the magic they'd need to undo the spell themselves, and until it was undone they couldn't complete their Quest. So they'd have to find someone else to undo it for them, and then they'd just happen to find a friendly player who was more than happy to lend a hand. For a price.

Or he'd disguise himself as another NPC and play it off like it was a part of the quest in question, or use some other variant to bilk them out of their valuables or send them to get items that he wanted. In a game where information was never free it was a fair bet that most players never even knew the 'Stasis' spell existed much less that it could be used the way he used it. Or that certain classes could hide the fact that they were players altogether.

'And they paid a whole lot more than they realized, since I pick-pocketed their most valuable items before I left. I think I made more money off of those chumps than I ever did from killing monsters.' He was openly chuckling now, reveling in the memories of age old conquests.

"Um, are you okay?"

He quickly came back to himself at the sudden inquiry. He coughed into one fist and looked down at the dryad. "Yes, I'm perfectly fine."

"I- I'm sorry to ask this, but you're sure that Zy'tl Q'ae won't break out of that spell, right?" She looked nervously back at the treant as she asked.

Tigris sighed, tired of the doubt. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure. The spell won't wear off on its own, for him to get free something else has to break it. And if that thing could undo the 'Stasis' on its own then it would have done so by now."

The dryad collapsed to her knees and breathed a sigh of profound relief. Tigris, on the other hand, kept his eyes on the treant. He knew that it would never move again until or unless the spell was broken, but plenty of monsters over level seventy had ways around effects like this. And this Zy'tl Q'ae was at least level eighty. There was a real chance that it had a special ability or a skill that would let it break free.

'But if it hasn't broken free by now, could it really not have such a skill? Or is it playing me? Is it waiting a while until I leave before it breaks free, hoping to buy itself time to heal from its injuries?' If that was the case and the tree freed itself then he would never live it down. The very thought of it turned his stomach, out-smarted by a hunk of wood.

Pinison Pol Perlia got up from the ground and swept the dirt from herself before she glanced up at him before turning to look back at the ground. "Um, so… what happens now?"

The Efreeti shrugged. "Now? You do whatever you want. I only brought you here to make so I didn't have to find my way back to that grove if it turned out you were lying about where this guy was. Thank you for your cooperation, have a nice day." The whole time he never even looked at her.

"Oh. I see. Well, then… I guess I'll be on my way. Ah, but, before I go…" She hesitated for a moment and finally took in a deep breath and bowed low. "Thank you. Truly. On the behalf of everything in this forest. You have saved us all from a horrible fate, and everybody will breathe easier knowing that Zy'tl Q'ae is no more."

"Um. Sure."

The dryad looked up at him and smiled, and then started to walk away.

Tigris watched her go for a moment, before something clicked in his memory.

"Hey, wait!"

She turned, startled. "W-what!?"

He ran and caught up with her in a few seconds. "I have one quick question before you go."

Pinison leaned back, and her tone gave away her worry. "W-what is it?"

Tigris reached into his item box, and showed her his newest acquisition. "Do you know what this is?"

He held in his hand a pile of a mossy green plant with numerous little leaves. A bunch of the stuff had been added to his inventory when he had used 'Rare Hunter' on Zy'tl Q'ae. 'Rare Hunter' was a skill that guaranteed the acquisition of the rarest item one could steal from an enemy, so the plant should be quite valuable. But he had no idea what it might be.

Pinison peered at the plant for a moment before she seemed to remember something. She turned to look up at Zy'tl Q'ae, searching for something, before turning back to look at the plant. "I think that's the medicinal herb that grows on Zy'tl Q'ae, humans show up every so often to harvest it, but how did you get it? You were never near the place on him where the plant grows."

"A medicinal herb?"

She nodded. "That's right, the humans who came by here before said that it could cure any poison or disease. I don't know what they call it though."

"I see." Tigris looked down at the plant with far more interest. This had potential uses, though he couldn't be certain how well it might turn out.

With that said Pinion and Tigris made somewhat awkward goodbyes and the Dryad left the grove, eager to return to her tree knowing that the terror she had known for so long was no more.

Tigris walked back to Zy'tl Q'ae and stared up at the frozen treant.

This was without a doubt the greatest find he had made thus far, the question was how to put it to proper use.

XXXXXXXXX

It was several hours later that Tigris Euphrates led the first reconnaissance force back to the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Night had already fallen, and they had accomplished their objectives. The masters of the forest were located, and their power measured. As Tigris expected, they didn't amount to much. All three of them together, and all the forces they commanded, would be trifles compared to Zy'tl Q'ae. Speaking of the treant, he had ended up waiting at that grove to see if the great plant ended up freeing itself after all. It never did, and so he ended up waiting for several hours at that grove until the other groups had accomplished their tasks.

Tigris intended to put forth a proposal to the group about having Aura go around and subjugate those leaders so that they could bring the forest under their control and further ensure their security.

As the NPCs followed their master back into the Tomb, there was an almost festive air about them. They had fulfilled the will of their gods, and they were undoubtedly proud of themselves. Aura, Mare, Solution, and Lupusregina were practically floating.

Eager to let his friends know what he had found, Tigris bid the group farewell and used his Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown to teleport to the ninth floor.

He looked around the white marble halls and took a deep breath, happy to be done with the first day's exploration into the unknown.

"Oh, you're finally back."

Tigris glanced over to find a familiar mound of midnight slime making its way towards him.

He smiled and headed over to greet him "Hey, Herohero-san, I'm back. Glad to be back. What'd I miss?"

Herohero didn't have any facial expressions, but he seemed a bit… put off.

"Um, well, a lot of things happened."

Tigris tilted his head to one side, confused. What could possibly have happened while he was gone? Everybody else was supposed to have stayed in the tomb all day. "What do you mean, a lot of things happened?"

Another voice made itself known, this one coming from behind him. "It means you were absent for quite a few things old buddy."

He didn't even need to turn to know what he was in for. But sure enough, there was Lucifer, looking none too pleased.

The angel just shook his head. "Nice of you to finally join us. Now get your red ass in here, we have a lot to talk about."

XXXXXXXXX

And that's a wrap. Sorry this took so long for so little. I'm afraid that the only time that I really have time to work on this is on the weekends. And things seemed determined to happen on the weekend for the past several weeks so I honestly didn't have a lot of time lately.

Originally I intended for this chapter to go differently, but I was put in a bit of a pickle by the question of how I wanted to present it. I needed this part with Tigris to come first before I went into the rest of the events at Carne Village. Likewise, I needed to introduce Gazef Stronoff before we got into what happens next, but putting those parts first screws with the flow of the story when you try to cram it all into one chapter. So finally I decided to just cut things in half and have this part with Tigris be its own separate chapter and we'll finish up Carne Village next time.

In case it wasn't clear, the events of this chapter and the events of the next chapter will be happening simultaneously.

So, with all of that said, today's character sheet is the first of my own design. The big man himself, Tigris Euphrates.

 **TIGRIS EUPHRATES**

 **The Quintessence of Theft**

 **Alignment-** -400 – Very Evil

 **Job-** One of the Forty One Supreme Beings

 **Residence-** Great Tomb of Nazarick

 **Racial Level- 25**

Djinni- Lv.10

Efreeti Lv.10

Efreeti Malik Lv.5

 **Job Level- 75**

Rogue Lv.15

Master Thief Lv.10

Assassin Lv.10

Master Assassin Lv.5

Time Thief Lv. 10

Master Time Thief Lv.5

World Thief Lv.5

Others

 **HP:** 80

 **MP:** 65

 **P. Atk:** Exceeds Limit

 **P. Def:** 70

 **Agility:** Exceeds Limit

 **M. Atk:** 65

 **M. Def:** 70

 **Resistance:** 90

 **Special Ability:** 100

 **Total:** 740+

A bit high spec, I know. Tigris Euphrates is what many people refer to as a power-gaming fuck. He's not like Momonga or Herohero, people who play the game for the fun of it; he's one of the people who played the game because he wanted to WIN. Where others just floated along and enjoyed the journey, he was more about the destination.

A combination of glass cannon and fragile speedster, his build uses his racial class mostly to maximize physical attack power and uses his job classes for maneuverability at the cost of defense, using his special abilities to get him around the enemy's defenses and throw the enemy off-kilter. A battle against him becomes a question of 'how do I even HIT this bastard!?' For Tigris, if he takes any damage at all then things have already gone wrong.

I'm sure people are might be tempted to shout 'overpowered' and the like, but there's something that must be kept in mind. In canon Overlord, Momonga made it clear that his build wasn't that good. In terms of stats, build, and class choices, he would be on the low end of things. It was his full complement of Divine equipment, when most level one hundred characters don't even have ONE Divine item, that brought him up to the middle of the high tier of characters. So what do you get when you take a power player and give HIM a full set of Divine equipment? The result is as above.

So, that's the end of this chapter, thank you very much for your patience, and I'll see you all next time.


	7. Chapter 7

Here we are at chapter seven.

So, since the last chapter was put out, skythewood has finished translating the Overlord Prologue, detailing the original conquest of the Great Tomb of Nazarick by the then-fledgling guild Ainz Ooal Gown. It's kind of a shame that this will most likely be the last bit of translated Overlord material that we'll have for ages, but we can all blame Yen Press for that. I'm not sure how much of it I'll use. I'll probably try to fit some of it in, but things that don't mesh with how I envisioned things will be summarily ignored. So please don't bombard me with comments like 'this is different than canon!' Thank you.

Now then, on with the show!

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Chapter Seven

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The fires weren't as bad as Momonga thought they would be. As he flew above the village and put the blazes out with magic, he noticed that only a dozen or so buildings had been set alight.

'It makes sense' he mused as he used another water spell. 'Those knights wouldn't want to trap themselves, so they wouldn't have wanted to set too many fires before they were ready to leave this place behind.'

Momonga had a decent view of the village as he snuffed out the last of the blazes. There was damage, and from the air it didn't look that bad. But, he could see that the real harm was to the people rather than to the village itself. He could see only a few charred, blackened homes, but there were many more villagers gathering their fallen.

He had seen it in the mirror, but it was a bit different to see it for real. To see just how many had died in the short time of the attack. It was sobering, in a way.

But what bothered him even more was how little he cared about it.

Momonga looked around the village, he saw the bloody streaks on the walls and the patches where the dirt turned red, but he felt no sorrow. He felt no anger, he felt no sympathy towards these people and their plight. The only thing that even came close to having an impact was what happened to those two girls, and even then the fact that the girls had died wasn't what really bothered him.

He shook his head to drive away the depressing thoughts. 'Now isn't the time to wonder about what might have happened to me. There's serious work to be done.'

Namely, gathering information on this world from the villagers.

The trick was handling the negotiations. A sick sort of feeling rose up in his stomach, even though he didn't have one. Half the reason he offered to put out the fires was to buy time to think something up. And he hadn't really come up with anything.

'Well, I'll just have to do my best and try not to embarrass myself.'

With that thought in mind he found the chief. The man was big, his muscles a testament to a long life of hard, dull, repetitive work, his wrinkles and graying hair a testament to his age. The man was gracious, and immediately invited Momonga into his home just off the village's main square.

The Lich glanced around as he walked behind the man, noting the damages done. As he thought before, the harm done was more the loss of life than the loss of property. They passed by a team of men who were doing something at the well. "Ah, excuse me, allow me to help."

The team of workers looked at him with wide eyes and quickly moved away as Momonga walked over and peered down into the well. It was dark, but Momonga had Darkvision so it didn't matter to him. It seemed that the knights had thrown some of their victims down there. The team of men were trying to grab them with a loop of rope, but weren't having any luck.

"Well, this is fairly simple. [Telekinesis]"

At Momonga's beckoning the three waterlogged corpses floated up the shaft and out into the daylight, bloated and dripping. When he set them down the team of workers quickly produced sheets of cloth and bundled them up. He watched as they called over help and began to carry them off, only a few of them giving him some muttered thanks.

The village chief stepped up to stand beside him. "Thank you for that. If we hadn't gotten them out of there quickly they may have contaminated the water supply. That would have ended this village as surely as the raid."

Momonga wasn't really sure what to say, the thanks only made him feel awkward. "Ah, it's no trouble. If I'm being paid to save the village then it would be poor manners to let something like this go unattended to."

The chief nodded. "Regardless of your reasons, thank you. Now, please, my house is just this way."

Momonga followed him into a house just off the main square. It didn't look any different from the others nearby. It was made of wood with a thatch roof, and a few simple windows with wooden shutters.

The chief graciously invited him inside and he saw that the interior wasn't any different. The house was mostly a large living room, with a rickety looking wooden table and several chairs standing in the middle. A kitchen was off to one side, and on the other side of the room from the main door was a door that most likely led to a bedchamber.

He was quickly seated in one of the chairs, and he took the opportunity to take a closer look at his surroundings. The kitchen had a fireplace made of rough-cut stones, and there were farm tools hung on little hooks on the walls of the living room. The only pot he could see in the kitchen was made of iron, and looked like a museum piece. The chair he was sitting in creaked beneath his weight, and the table wobbled when he rested his gauntleted arm upon it. Nothing seemed to be of any quality whatsoever.

And more than that, there were no manufactured goods anywhere. Nothing electrical, nothing looking like it may have been made in a factory, everything looked hand-made with only a modicum of skill.

Ever since he saw this village he thought that there wouldn't be much in the way of technology here. All of this was only more proof. 'Although, I am curious about what kind of technology and science might be developed in a world where magic is real.'

But even in a world where there were no factories and no industry, and everything had to be made by hand, everything in here could only be considered of poor quality. 'This must be what is known as poverty.'

He leaned his staff against the table to keep it out of the way. The way the flesh simply absorbed light rather than reflecting it made one think of the inevitability of the grave. It was clear that the villagers were uneasy about it, none of them talked about it and everyone seemed to try to avoid looking at it for any length of time. Momonga was a little bothered by that, he didn't want them to feel uneasy. But at the same time he couldn't put it back into his inventory without prompting questions so he decided that it was better to leave it where it was.

His own unease with the situation was quickly suppressed, making him furrow his nonexistent brows.

Frankly speaking he disliked the forced calming effect. Regardless of the emotion, whenever he felt too much of it the emotion was quickly brought down to a certain point. With that said, becoming too agitated would make it impossible to face the challenges ahead. Momonga decided to just be thankful for the useful aspects of the skill and refocused his mind on solving the current dilemma.

He had to talk to the village chief and negotiate payment for saving the village.

Needless to say, money was worthless to him. What he wanted was information, but he couldn't directly ask about that without being suspicious.

It wouldn't be a problem in a small village like this, but when the local lords found out about this they would see him out. When they discovered that he knew nothing about the world they would try to take advantage of him.

'Am I overthinking this?'

Momonga felt like he was running across a busy road. A fatal accident could happen at any time. That 'fatal accident' being a sudden meeting with the powerful beings of this world.

Strength and weakness were the key to everything here.

Momonga was more powerful than anything he had found in this village. However that didn't mean that he was the strongest being in the world. There may well be things out there that he couldn't defeat even with the help of his remaining comrades.

In addition to that, he was an undead creature. From the reaction of the two girls he could tell what place the undead had in this world. He was aware that since most humans would hate him, they would probably attack him. Herohero, Luci Fer, and Tigris Euphrates would be in the same boat. In order to avoid bringing a sudden calamity upon them all he had to be very careful here.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." The chief said as he sat in the chair opposite him and his wife stood behind him.

From this close he could see that the man's cotton shirt was crudely made and although it was dirty it didn't stink.

Momonga would guess the man's age at forty five, but he seemed to have aged over the last hour or so.

The chief's wife looked to be about the same age. Maybe she had been beautiful once, but long years of farm work had taken that from her. All that was left was a skinny woman with messy black hair and a face full of freckles. She just seemed to radiate gloom.

A crude cup was placed before him. "Please, help yourself."

Momonga raised one hand and refused the steaming cup. "No thank you, I'm not thirsty."

He wasn't lying, he didn't feel thirsty. He wasn't at all sure that he could even drink anymore. And even if he could he couldn't remove his mask. What caught his eye though was the process that the chief's wife used to make the tea.

She created sparks with flint over at the fireplace, igniting wood shavings. She then fanned the flames and transferred them to the wood burning stove and used the heat to boil the water in a beat up looking kettle. The whole process took some time.

This was the first time that Momonga had ever seen water boiled using something other than an electric kettle. He found it quite interesting, and it helped paint the picture of what technology was like in this world.

But then, that might not be the case everywhere. He lightly bowed his head "Again, I apologize. Especially after you went to all the trouble to boil water just for me."

"You are too kind, there is no need to apologize."

The fact that he bowed his head to them, however slightly, seemed to mystify the pair of them. They seemed surprised that the master of the Death Knight would ever bow his head to anyone.

But to Momonga, this was nothing new. In his normal life, bowing his head was practically half of his job.

He had considered going about this another way. For example, he could use [Charm Person] to make them talk and then use high tier memory modification spells, but that method cost way too much MP. Even changing a few minutes would take a considerable toll.

It was strange feeling, losing MP. It was a strange fatigue, like he had lost something.

"Well then, let us cut to the chase and discuss my payment."

"Yes, of course. But again, thank you very much!" Both the chief and his wife bowed their heads low. "If it weren't for you, we all would have died. Thank you."

Momonga was surprised at such unreserved gratitude. In his past life, he had never been thanked like this before. Then again, he had never saved anyone before so maybe this sort of reaction was normal?

Although he was a bit embarrassed by this earnest appreciation, he didn't dislike it either.

"Please, stop. Like I told you before, I didn't do this for free."

At least the chief sat up straight. "I know that, but we still wish to show our gratitude for saving us all."

Momonga sat back in his chair, ignoring the creaking wood. "Then paying me will be more than enough. Now let's get this over with, surely you have plenty to do as the chief of this village given everything that has happened."

He looked a little abashed. "I don't think anything is more important than this right now, but I understand what you mean."

The masked skeleton racked his brains, even though he literally didn't have any. His goal was to extract information through conversation, rather than through magic.

'Ah, what a pain.'

He still remembered the tricks that he had used as an office worker. Would they be effective here? Hopefully some of them would be useful. Girding himself against the possibility of failure, Momonga asked again "So, let us get to the point. How much can you afford to pay me?"

The chief drew himself up and looked him straight in the eye. "I have no intention of deceiving you. I don't know how many copper and silver coins we can gather up, and we can't exactly collect evenly from anyone given the… losses. We can't really ask for money from those who have just lost family members. But, I believe that we can muster up around three thousand copper pieces."

'I have no idea what that means.' Momonga silently mocked himself. 'Asking him so directly was a mistake. I should have tried a different approach. Maybe I shouldn't rely on my skills as an office worker. I was pretty bad at it.'

Which led to a further thought. 'I really wish that Herohero or Lucifer were here. Either one of them would be better than me when it comes to this.'

'Then again, Lucifer would probably just use mind control.'

He shook off the pointless thoughts. It was true that he wasn't the best at this, but that didn't change the fact that his guildmates weren't here right now. This job fell to him, and they were relying on him to learn as much as possible. That thought, more than anything else, gave him the determination to succeed.

Three thousand copper coins, it sounded like a lot but he had no way to be sure without knowing the value of local currency. For all he knew copper was rare and precious. Or it could be completely worthless. 'I have to avoid accepting a sum that is too large or too small, or else it will reveal my ignorance.'

'Actually, I should be relieved that they didn't offer me four heads of cattle or something. I really didn't think this through.'

The passive skill kicked in as he began to sink into depression, returning him to his normal state of mind. He silently praised his undead body, and he realized something.

He knew that copper coins and silver coins were the normal currency used in this village. So, logically, there should be denominations that are more valuable or less valuable than copper or silver. The question was how to find out what they were without letting them know that that was what he was doing.

'I have to learn the value of copper coins without letting them know that I don't know what they're worth. More than anything I want to keep a low profile as I investigate this world.'

Momonga was thinking as hard as he could to avoid making an even bigger mistake.

After a bit of thought, he managed to come up with a tactic that might work. He hoped.

"These small coins are a bit of a pain to carry in large numbers. Do you have anything in larger denominations?"

The chief looked a bit uncomfortable at the question. "I'm sorry. If we could pay you in gold then we certainly would, but we just don't have any gold coins in this village."

Momonga fought back the urge to sigh in relief. The chief's answer let him know what he wanted to know. Gold was valuable in this world, the hoards of Nazarick weren't worthless. But now the next question was just how valuable gold really was. He tried to think up something that would let him figure that out.

"How about this, I plan to buy the produce of this village at a reasonable price. So you can pay me in credit used to trade here."

Momonga secretly opened his inventory under his robe and pulled out two gold coins from YGGDRASIL. One coin was decorated with the face of a woman, and the other featured the visage of a man. The first coin was the standard after the huge update 'Valkyrie's Downfall', while the latter coin was from after the update.

While the two coins were considered to be of equal value in YGGDRASIL, to Momonga they were very different.

The old coin had followed him from the day he started playing YGGDRASIL until after the guild of Ainz Ooal Gown was formed. The new coins were released with the update, when Ainz Ooal Gown was in its golden age. By that point his equipment had been mostly complete, so the vast majority of the coins had simply been stored in his coffers.

He quickly put the old coin away, and showed the old man the Valkyrie's Downfall coin.

"If I used this coin to buy something, what would I get for it?"

Momonga put the coin on the table, and both the chief and his wife just stared at it with big, wide eyes.

The man's jaw opened, but all that could be heard were a few sounds of utter shock.

The skeleton would have smiled at their reactions if he could. It was a good sign. "This is a currency used in a land far, far away. Is it worth anything here?"

"Uh, I, I believe so… please wait just a moment."

Momonga felt a surge of relief and satisfaction at the confirmation, and watched as the village chief left his chair and disappeared into the back room. After a few moments he returned and placed an item on the table that Momonga had only seen in his history lessons.

It was an old balance scale, apparently made of brass.

The wife gathered a bag from the kitchen and returned. She compared the coin with a round piece of metal from the bag, and then placed it on the scale and started adding weights to the other side.

It only took Momonga a moment to figure out what she was doing. She was attempting to verify the size, weight, and gold content of the coin compared to whatever standard of measure that this place used.

After a minute or so of messing around with weights, she finally gave her verdict. "It seems to weigh about double what a gold coin of the kingdom weighs, but I'm not certain of the legitimacy of the metal. If, if I could be allowed to scrape the surface…."

"Oi! Don't be rude! My apologies on behalf of my wife for doubting you." The chief didn't hesitate to jump in.

'If it weighs twice as much, she probably thinks that the coin is gold plated.' Momonga wasn't unoffended, but he wasn't angry either.

He just shrugged. "It's perfectly fine. Although, if you test it and it's pure gold you will purchase it, no?"

The woman seemed taken aback by the question. "Uh… no, that won't be necessary. My apologies for the question." She quickly put the coin back on the table.

"It's no problem, it only makes sense to verify any strange money that you're given. Still, what do you think of this gold piece? Don't you think it looks like a work of art?"

The chief sat back down and folded his hands in front of him. "It's certainly very beautiful. Would you mind telling me what country it comes from?"

Momonga winced at the question. It was still a bit painful. "That country… sadly to say, that country no longer exists."

"I see…."

The skeleton quickly pulled himself together. "Getting back to the topic at hand, you've confirmed that the coin weighs about twice that of a normal gold piece, but this artwork would increase its value even further, don't you think?"

The chief squirmed a little bit. "That… may be so. Unfortunately, we're no merchants so we can't really comment on the value of art."

"Haha, well that's reasonable. Still, the artwork aside, if I used this coin it would have twice the purchasing power of a normal gold coin, yes?"

"Yes of course."

Momonga retrieved a few more coins from his inventory and placed them on the table. "Actually, I have a few more coins like that one. What can you sell me for them? Naturally I'll pay fair market rates. If you doubt the coins, by all means inspect them all you wish-"

"Master Satoru!"

The chief's sudden shout made Momonga's nonexistent heart lurch. The man had an air of determination and forcefulness that he lacked before.

'I should probably find out this man's name at some point.'

"I understand what you're getting at."

Momonga was grateful he was wearing a mask. He had no idea what the guy was getting at. There was some kind of misunderstanding, but he had no idea what.

"Your skills are great, and you want a reward worthy of your time. So what else do you desire besides the three thousand coppers?"

Momonga's mind was a whirl of confusion as the old man continued on. All he had wanted was to gain a grasp of the market values, how did it turn out like this?

"As I said before, three thousand coppers is all the cash we can afford to spend right now. I know it must seem like we're trying to stiff you, but trust me that that isn't the case. Maybe, if we all gave everything, we could come up with enough money to pay you properly. But we just lost a lot of manpower and if we give you any more we may not survive the coming winter. The same goes for our crops. A number of fields will have to be abandoned simply because we don't have the manpower to work them. If we paid you with our supplies, our lives would be hell as we tried to replace them. It pains me to say this… but… can we possibly pay you in installments?"

The man's eyes were clear and honest. If this turned out to be one big lie, all Momonga could do was curse his inability to read people.

'Wait a second, isn't this a good chance?'

At that moment, Momonga had an epiphany. Something clicked in his mind and he had an idea to try and turn this conversation towards what he wanted.

And that was when the interruption came.

[Momonga, are you there? Listen to me, you need to get out of there immediately. This whole thing is a trap!]

He went from confident to confused at the speed of thought. 'A trap? What?'

It was too sudden, he had trouble shifting mental gears.

[Are you listening to me? I captured the leader of those knights and put him to the question. Here's the short version, those knights were bait to draw someone out. So this big time badass is heading to that village right now, and this knight's superiors are going to bushwhack him the second he gets there. If you don't leave right now you'll be caught in the crossfire between an enemy guild and this world's equivalent of old Touchy Feely. Grab Albedo and get the hell out of there!]

His non-existent heart hammered in his chest before his panic was suppressed. Once his mind regained clarity, Momonga immediately stood up and ended the 'Message'. The chief and his wife looked surprised, but he paid them no mind as he grabbed his staff and headed for the door. He looked over his shoulder at the two as he opened the door. "I'm sorry to end this abruptly, but something just came up. We'll have to have the rest of this discussion later." He left the house without another word.

He wanted to reply to Lucifer-san, but in order to speak using 'Message' you have to actually speak and he didn't want to be seen talking to himself. But he had received the warning, and he had no intention of getting caught up in a trap.

As he stepped out into the street, he cast a [Message] and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Albedo! Come to the square!" He shouted as he entered the square himself, mentally commanding the Death Knight to attend him as well. If he ever had to come back here, he didn't want to be seen as someone who talked to himself. This would be interpreted as Albedo having incredible hearing.

He didn't have long to wait. The Death Knight came running from its patrol around the village, its footsteps thundering throughout the village. Everyone scrambled to make way for the massive undead creature as it sought to return to its master.

Momonga gestured with one hand toward the open air. "[Portal]!"

The Death Knight followed his command and leapt into the dark oval that appeared. Momonga looked around for Albedo. He wouldn't leave without her. That was when he heard a strange rumbling sound.

He pointed the staff in the direction the noise was coming from. Was it possible that the enemy Lucifer-san spoke of was already here?

The house he was looking at exploded.

Shards of wood, bits of thatch, and clouds of dust blew into the square as a dark figure darted through with incredible speed.

Momonga almost unleashed an attack, but then he realized what happened and stayed his hand.

Albedo came to a stop two feet in front of him and bowed low. "You called for me Momonga-sama?"

He looked on, dumbfounded, at the hole that Albedo just emerged from. It was only a fleeting glimpse, because the house soon collapsed and closed it.

"Albedo, did you run straight here?"

The armored figure stood up straight. "Of course Momonga-sama! If my beloved calls for me I will immediately go to him and no obstacle will stand in my way!"

'So she ran straight here, literally straight here, right through all the houses in the way.'

Momonga shook his head. There was no time for this. He gestured toward the portal "We're leaving, get in there. Now."

Albedo nodded and dashed through without another word.

Momonga wasted no time following her into the dark portal.

It was a shame. There was no doubt that he could gather a lot of information here if he had time. But he trusted his guildmate's advice. And more than anything else he was afraid. His passive skill helped, but it couldn't quench the constant, low-burning fear in the back of his mind.

He had no intention of running into one of this new world's powerful beings without plenty of research and planning. If one of them was coming here, then he would not be here when it arrived. That might lead to the destruction of the village, but in the end the only reason he stepped in to save this place in the beginning was because of a whim, and a strange sense of wanting to pay forward the kindness that he received back when he was weak. He felt that it was what some of his guildmates would want to do if they were here.

But he wasn't going to risk a fight with someone as powerful as Touch Me over a sense of nostalgia. And he certainly wasn't going to get into a fight with an entire guild all on his own.

He supposed that it might seem heartless, but Momonga had no intention of risking his own life or the life of Albedo for the sake of strangers. Even from the beginning when he confronted those knights he fully intended to run if they put up any significant resistance, taking the two girls into the 'Portal' he made at the start.

Momonga stepped into the portal before it vanished into the air without a trace, leaving a crowd of confused villagers behind him. He truly hoped that Carne village would survive whatever happened next, but he wasn't about to risk his life, the lives of his friends, and the lives of his friends' creations for them.

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When he stepped through the portal, he set foot on lush grass rather than the well-trod dirt of a village square. Immediately, the numerous monsters that surrounded him set down their arms and bowed low. The reserve forces that were on standby under Demiurge's command, ready to be deployed should Tigris Euphrates run into unexpected danger on his expedition.

Momonga had set the other end of the Portal before the surface entrance to the Tomb, rather than inside of the Tomb itself. Just to be on the safe side.

"Keep watch over this area, and capture anyone who follows the teleportation here. If capture is impossible, kill them before they can send the information to anyone else." There was nothing that said that the beings here could trace teleportation, but if YGGDRASIL players could do it then there was nothing that said that the powerful beings of this world could not do the same. If anyone followed his route from Carne Village to Nazarick, they would find themselves surrounded by fiends and magical beasts.

Said fiends and magical beasts bowed low and murmured their acknowledgement of his command. After making sure that he was understood, he hurried toward the large mausoleum in the center of the graveyard, nervous about being before so many eyes. Albedo and the Death Knight he created rose from their supplication and followed him without a word.

As he ascended the stairs, the massive stone doors at the top creaked open, allowing a man in a red suit to step outside.

Upon seeing the source of the disturbance, he immediately bowed low at the waist. "Ah, Momonga-sama, we are pleased beyond words to see you safely returned to us. As you can see, we've increased the defenses here in response to your orders."

Momonga worked up his nerve and did his best to put on his 'imperial' façade, answering Demiurge's greetings with what he hoped was a regal nod of the head. "Please, raise your head. Has there been any word from Tigris Euphrates? And where are Herohero and Lucifer-san?"

Demiurge rose from the bow to stand proudly before him as he reached the top of the stairs. Demiurge filed in and started walking just behind him as he made his way inside. "Sadly, there has been no word from Tigris Euphrates-sama, or Lucifer-sama. We do not know where they are. Herohero-sama stands here with us at the forward defenses."

The answer was almost unnecessary. By the time he finished telling Momonga where Herohero was, the skeleton could see the slime for himself in the midst of the packed room. He was sitting on one of the empty slabs that were strewn around the mausoleum chamber, seemingly deep in conversation with Shalltear and Cocytus.

When he took a closer look around, he was rather surprised at the firepower arranged in the room. The monsters outside were numerous, but they were all lower level. Inside of the Mausoleum, there was nothing weaker than level eighty. In fact, plenty of them were over level ninety. There were just over two hundred creatures in Nazarick who were over level eighty, and more than a third of them had been packed into this room. It was actually rather crowded.

It only took a moment to realize where most of these powerful creatures came from. Three of the corners were taken up by hulking monstrosities known as Mothers of Oblivion, their reptilian heads rising above masses of rubbery tentacles. The tentacles themselves were beyond number, many of them passing through small portals to emerge elsewhere, some of them tipped with eyes or mouths. The entire area around each of them seemed to shimmer and twist as they warped space with their very presence. It was almost impossible to teleport near a Mother of Oblivion, any attempt would simply fizzle out and deal damage to the caster, as well as wasting MP unless one was suitably prepared.

Momonga tried his best to hide his relief. If he had tried to put the portal inside of the Mausoleum itself….

A Mother of Oblivion was a level ninety five creature. Not even he could teleport close to one casually.

But it did raise a question. He did a quick scan of the room, looking at each creature and thinking of where they should be in Nazarick.

Forty individuals of the Nazarick Master Guard, skeletons clad in resplendent golden armor, each one level eighty.

Twenty skeletons covered in armor made of ice, surrounded by arctic mist, occupied another section of the room. Winterwights, level ninety one.

The Bandersnatch in the fourth corner, a furious looking beast breathing strange fumes, level ninety two.

Two massive undead creatures known as Tzitzimitls, numerous skeletons conjoined into massive armored bodies, each one level ninety four.

Horned, three eyed, black skinned giants, Void Giants, crouched to avoid scraping the ceiling. Each one of the six gigantic humanoids was level ninety seven.

Three fifteen foot tall, four armed humanoid horrors garbed in golden armor and surrounded by nimbuses of glowing weaponry. They were Asurendras, savants of corruption and sin, instruments of annihilation meant to slay and destroy the works of gods. Each one of the powerful warriors was a level ninety six monster.

Near the stairs to Nazarick's first floor stood an astonishingly beautiful woman, rosy haired and completely nude except for the vines and flowers that covered her lower body. As she stood there those vines shifted and changed of their own accord from luscious green plants bursting with roses and sakura petals to dead, withered things covered in frost. A Veranallia, a physical incarnation of the changing of the seasons, level ninety nine.

And his eyes finally alighted towards the rear of the Mausoleum, where a group of five girls were gathered together in animated discussion. Yuri Alpha, level fifty one, Narberal Gamma, level sixty three, CZ2128 Delta, level forty six, Entoma Vasilissa Zeta, level fifty one, and in the middle of the group was a girl that was a head shorter than any of them. The Lastborn of Pleiades, level one hundred.

These creatures, one and all, were all from the eighth floor. A location that none of the NPCs were permitted to visit under any circumstances without permission.

So, that left only one person who could have brought these beings here.

The sea of creatures parted as he walked by, every individual horror bowing low as he made his way to the slab before the stairs leading down. The slab where the orchestrator of this massive force was talking with two of the Floor Guardians.

The pitch black ooze seemed to look over to him as he got close. "Ah, Momonga-san! You're back! What's going on? I just got the message that we were at risk of attack and to be ready for anything. And Lucifer-san never explained anything else when he got back."

Momonga was stopped short by the sudden piece of new information. Instead of asking the question he wanted to ask, he had to follow up on this first. "Lucifer-san is back in Nazarick?"

Herohero nodded. "He got back a while ago, and said to head down to his room when you returned." The ooze seemed to droop a little. "Although I really wish he would explain what's going on."

Shalltear stepped forward and bowed low. "With all respect, Herohero-sama, I'm certain that Lucifer-sama has his reasons. He must be occupied by whatever information he gained in his brief sojourn outside."

Momonga cleared his throat, somehow, and took control of the conversation. "Well, the only way to find out is to go down and ask him. Shalltear, Cocytus, you stay here and make sure that nothing happens. Herohero-san, let's get to the bottom of this, I have some questions for Lucifer-san too."

Albedo stepped forward and bowed low. "Please, Momonga-sama, allow me to accompany you. As Nazarick's Overseer, I would like to learn of Lucifer-sama's findings as well."

Momonga nodded but Herohero spoke up "Actually… Lucifer-san said that it should only be the two of us. But…" the slime seemed to take a moment to come to a decision. "I don't think there's any problem with you coming with us part way."

"Eh?" Momonga was more than a little confused at that. 'What's the point of that? We'll just use our Rings to teleport down, right?'

Before Momonga could ask any questions, Herohero slopped off of the stone bier and slithered towards the stairs leading down. "Come on. Cocytus, Shalltear, Demiurge, you three stay here and keep an eye on things."

The three Floor Guardians bowed low.

"We shall see to it that nothing shall pass us by unnoticed."

"Rest assured, any who dare to assault the Great Tomb of Nazarick shall dearly regret their impudence."

"Leave. It. To. Us. Herohero-sama. Momonga-sama. We. Shall. Not. Fail."

Momonga felt a little stifled by the formality of their vows, but hurried after Herohero to hide it.

Albedo and the Death Knight he created kept pace with him as he descended the stone steps and followed Herohero through the door and into the Great Tomb of Nazarick's first floor.

The Overseer of the Guardians took the opportunity to take off her helmet, holding it under one arm as she shook out her hair. "Ah, it's so refreshing to be back in Nazarick. Spending so much time among scum and not being able to deal with them appropriately… it's so stifling."

Herohero seemed puzzled by what she meant, which made sense if he really didn't know anything about what was happening. But Momonga had an idea of what she was talking about. "Albedo, do you hate humans?"

She perked up at the question, then smiled. "I detest them. Humans are weak and inferior lifeforms. Although they do look so beautiful when they're crushed into a paste. Well, except for the one." She sent a glance toward the door, towards the youngest of the Pleiades, with the last comment.

Albedo's voice was as sweet as honey, despite the cruelty in her words. Momonga couldn't help but be jarred at the contradiction between the cruelty and Albedo's merciful, goddess-like beauty.

It was a problem, that he was so surprised by this. Understanding one's subordinates was an important skill to have as a leader, and Momonga was beginning to understand just how sorely he was lacking.

'If we send out people like Albedo to discover new information… we could end up making unnecessary enemies without even realizing it.'

Herohero stepped, or slithered, forward. "Well, it's not that strange an attitude to have, is it Momonga-san? I'm sure that most everyone here in Nazarick feels the same way."

Momonga's head turned so fast that, if he wasn't a skeleton, he felt that he would have gotten whiplash. He barely managed to avoid blurting out the first thing on his mind, but he was still heavily confused until he saw one of Herohero's 'eyes' blink closed for a second. Confusion gave way to clarity as he understood Herohero's meaning.

'Play along.'

Herohero continued "By the way, Momonga-san, did you show Albedo her surprise yet?"

Albedo looked between the two, her eyes wide, innocent, and confused. "Surprise?"

'Herohero-san, you're bringing this up now!?'

He scrambled for some way forward, but it was easier to just go along with it. "Um, no, I haven't really found the opportunity yet."

Albedo stepped forward. "Momonga-sama, may I ask, what is Herohero-sama talking about?"

The skeleton reached into his inventory and removed the item Lucifer had given to him. "He's talking about this."

It was a bracelet, made of gold and set with a number of large, square amethysts. Each deep purple gem was emblazoned by white marks that, taken together, formed the image of a grinning skull. Momonga's symbol, the same sigil that was emblazoned on his bedroom door or on his flag in the Throne Room.

The Overseer was entranced by the piece of jewelry, her eyes wide and fixated on the piece in his skeletal hand. She stepped backward as he offered it to her, as though intimidated by it.

"I was meaning to give this to you, Albedo, I was just waiting for the right moment. Consider this a token of my appreciation towards all of your hard work making sure that Nazarick is properly managed."

The beauty's mouth opened, and then shut without saying anything before she gently took hold of the bracelet and held it to her chest. "M-momonga-sama, is it truly alright for me to have something like this?"

The Overlord nodded. "Of course. But, I want you to do something for me Albedo."

"Anything!"

It was almost painful to look at her, her eyes wide and full of earnest enthusiasm to please. "I want you to go put this bracelet on, and never take it off. Okay? Bathe with it on, sleep with it on, never take it off for any reason okay? After all, it is a symbol."

"Of course Momonga-sama! If that is your wish, I will never remove it, I'll wear it to my dying day! Please excuse me Masters, I have to go get this armor off so I can properly equip this!" She seemed excited, so excited she could barely contain herself.

Momonga and Herohero both nodded and Albedo darted down the hall, making the long trek to the Tomb's deepest floors.

After she was gone, Momonga was finally free to ask "Herohero-san, was that what you had in mind from the start?"

The slime made a motion that he thought was supposed to be a shrug. "Pretty much. Lucifer-san had the right idea, saying that you should be the one to give that to her. She'll never question something that you gave her, and since you asked it of her she really will never take it off. Lucifer-san used the same approach on Shalltear last night."

"Shalltear's already been bugged?" Momonga didn't see anything obvious when he encountered her a few minutes ago.

"Yeah, the ones I made for Shalltear were a pair of stud earrings. Gold set with tiny diamonds inscribed with Lucifer-san's symbol. She was certainly wearing them just now. Lucifer-san also managed to convince Sebas to wear the gloves I made for him, and Rubedo could hardly say no to the necklace I made for her since she's inactive. That only leaves Demiurge. I don't know how we're going to get him to wear what I made, but I'm sure that Lucifer-san will find a way to plant it on him without making it look suspicious."

It was nice to see that Herohero had faith in their friend's cleverness, but the subject still left him uneasy. However, he had been outvoted on this three to one. So he would go along with it, regardless of his personal feelings on the matter.

"Speaking of Rubedo, Herohero-san, you were the one who authorized the movement of forces from the eighth floor?"

Herohero seemed a bit abashed. "Ah, yes, that was me. I had no idea what was happening, Sebas just told me that you said to prepare for an incoming attack. So I got some of the big guns out. But not all of them! I left most of the eighth floor's forces where they were. I didn't move Victim, Rubedo hasn't been activated, and I left the other five Veranallias in the Cherry Blossom Sanctuary." The lines all had a well rehearsed feel to them. Like Herohero was preparing for this conversation for a while.

Momonga just shook his head. He could understand why Herohero did what he did, especially if he was working with incomplete information from the start. But this was a bit of a headache. Now they'd have to get them all back where they belonged. But that could come later.

"Well, I'm not angry. So let's just try and get to the bottom of this. First we have to see what Lucifer-san has figured out. We'll just teleport right outside of his room. Okay?"

Herohero nodded, and they both activated their respective Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown and vanished from the stone hallways of the first floor.

XXXXXXXXX

The two reappeared in a hallway of shining marble outside of a familiar door.

A gesture from Momonga caused the two Master Guard to stand aside to let Momonga knock on the door. "Lucifer-san! It's me and Herohero-san."

After a moment he heard Lucifer giving permission so he opened the door and stepped inside, with Herohero slithering in behind him. He had to find out what Lucifer had learned, but at the same time he felt some… trepidation. He wasn't looking forward to finding out what kind of a state the prisoner was in if he had divulged the kind of information that Lucifer had spoken about.

Momonga made sure that the door was securely closed and turned to regard the room.

It was the same resplendent room that he had seen so many times before. The only thing that had changed were the Mirrors of Remote Viewing on the wall showing different scenes and the devices that the mirrors were attached to. One showed an image of the door leading outside from the Mausoleum, one showed the plains of the eighth floor, one showed the kitchen on the ninth floor, and the last showed stone walls with torches blurring by. That would be Albedo speeding through the Tomb. There was only one black mirror left.

The skeleton was a bit surprised. Lucifer and Herohero had only proposed the plan the previous night, but they had already brought it so far. The items had been created, and four of them had been planted on their designated targets. Although he didn't really agree with it, he was glad to see his guildmates working together at least.

"Welcome to the party, come and take a seat."

Momonga looked over to one of the round tables of platinum and glass where Lucifer was sitting together with a strange man he had never seen before. But the man was wearing the same livery as the knights that had attacked Carne Village. 'That would be the captain that Lucifer-san said that he captured then.'

The two slowly made their way over to the table, eyeing the armored man. Momonga half expected him to be afraid, terrified, and the victim of who knows what kind of torture. But instead he seemed calm, relaxed, serene.

Lucifer gestured and the other two chairs scooted back, letting Momonga and Herohero seat themselves.

The table held a tea service and a number of small cakes and before Lucifer sat an open notebook.

Herohero glanced around. "Um, Lucifer-san, just what's going on here?"

The angel cocked an eyebrow at the question. "I have no idea what you mean. I've just been enjoying a pleasant afternoon with my friend here. Isn't that right Belius?"

The knight nodded, although up close he looked more dazed than relaxed.

"Oookaaaay. So, what's really going on then?" Herohero seemed mystified, disturbed, confused, and in desperate need of answers. Especially since he didn't even know why Momonga left in the first place.

"Um, Lucifer-san, is it safe to talk in front of your… friend?"

The blonde figure just smiled. "Sure, say whatever you like. He doesn't care."

Momonga wasn't so convinced. "Are you sure? The right kind of shock might make him snap out of it." By this point he was certain that the man had been mind controlled by some means. Lucifer would have had several different options to go about it.

Lucifer shrugged. "I'm as sure as sure can be." Then he smiled and turned to the man sitting next to him. "Let's test it. Hey, Belius, just so you know, I murdered your family and ate them. How does that make you feel?"

The dazed knight took a drink of his tea before answering. "I feel proud that relatives of mine, worthless flesh of this worthless flesh, could receive the honor of relieving you of your hunger, lord."

Lucifer glanced over at the other two and gestured. As if to say 'there, see?' "Say whatever you like."

Momonga cleared his throat and shifted in his chair. And beside him, Herohero seemed equally uncomfortable. "Okay then."

So Momonga started the meeting by filling Herohero in on precisely what had been happening in the last few hours.

XXXXXXXXX

Part of Gazef Stronoff's job was to look good. It was an unspoken part of the job, but as the King's personal bodyguard and champion he was His Majesty's representative among the common people. So at all times he had to look every inch the champion that represented the might and mercy of the royal family. He must always be stern, charismatic, caring, and perfect, and his composure must be as unshakeable as a mountain.

But finally spotting a village intact after almost a month of running around the Kingdom's hinterlands was a powerful moment. The idea of a proper bed, of proper food, and proper shelter all called to him like a siren song. Even more enticing was the possibility of gathering information or, better yet, the idea that they may have gotten ahead of their quarry. All of it together threatened to shake the stern mask of the Warrior-Captain that he was expected to present to the world at all times.

His men, however, were not nearly so burdened by responsibility and were not shy in expressing their joy. Still, they were professionals, and it only took a few words from him to reestablish order. It wouldn't do to scare the villagers by making them think that they were about to be attacked by a group of unruly bandits.

So, with solemn dignity and in proper formation Gazef led his twenty men down the hill towards the village they could see in the distance. They did not gallop, but kept an easy yet swift pace. Swift, without looking like a charge.

But he could still feel the excitement in the air, the possibility that the days of hardship out in the wilderness might be nearing their end, that they might get some information that would let them get the upper hand. Or at the very least that they would be able to rest easy for a single night and replenish themselves. Gazef was more than happy to let the men relax. They had been riding as hard as a man can for weeks, and they still had a hard fight ahead of them. The better rested they were for that encounter, the better off everyone would fare.

It was a joyous occasion, without a doubt.

And what Gazef saw as they neared the village spoiled that festive mood.

The site first appeared as a number of glints upon the ground, nearby some black spots. At first he wasn't sure what to make of it, but as he got closer he saw what he was looking at.

The things glinting in the sun were men in armor lying upon the ground. The darker spots were fallen horses. As they neared he picked up the smell of blood and rot and corruption and he was left with no doubt that he was looking at the result of some kind of attack.

A gesture from him sent his men forward to investigate the scene. It looked straightforward, a number of men and horses were dead, but there was one thing that stood out. One man was standing.

He didn't seem any different than the others. A man in armor, wielding a cavalry saber. But his posture was slumped in an unnatural manner. It was like everything from the hips down was frozen in place. Instead of falling he just sort of… slumped in a kind of half bow.

Gazef's warriors approached the scene cautiously. They weren't sure what happened here, but it appeared unnatural. It was most likely the result of magic or a monster's special ability. And there was nothing that said that whatever was responsible for the slaughter wasn't still nearby.

The Kingdom's Champion quickly took count of the armored figures, and noted that there were fifteen dead men here, including the strange standing man, and half as many dead horses. He had his suspicions about who these men were, but he still had to have proof before he could rest easy.

That proof was not long coming as his men dismounted and rolled one of the bodies over to reveal the crest adorning the breastplate. "Captain! Take a look at this! This guy's wearing the crest of the Empire!"

Sure enough, a cursory examination revealed the same of the others. One and all, they had the Baharuth Empire's crest emblazoned upon their armor.

Gazef slowly took in the scene, feeling deeply uneasy, and his men felt the same. "There can be no doubt that these men are the ones that we have been pursuing for so long. But now we must ask the question, what happened to them?" He looked over those who chose to investigate the standing man. "Have you three found anything about that body?"

One of the warriors, Aimon, looked up from where he was crouched by the standing man's side. "Um, kind of? Come take a look at this."

Gazef dismounted and made his way over to them. "What have you found?"

The three looked up at him "Well, take a look." He gestured toward the standing soldier's right thigh, the area that they had managed to carve the armor off of.

Underneath the plate armor, the man wore long, soft leather pants. But wrapped around his leg, over that, was some kind of ribbon. It was white, with a golden outer trim, and it seemed to wrap around his thigh, criss-crossing up to his hip and down toward his knee and calf where it disappeared under the armor once more. Even stranger, a portion seemed to plunge directly down into the meat of his thigh, steeping everything in blood.

Cygnus, another of the warriors, looked closely at the ribbon, and then looked up at his captain. "That bit of ribbon goes straight through to the other side of his thigh, and there's another portion going through from the other side. What do you guys want to bet that if we removed the rest, we'd find this guy propped up by this ribbon, with spikes of it stabbing down into the ground that are keeping him upright?"

Aimon took off his helmet to scratch at his head. "But what the heck is this ribbon in the first place?"

Gazef at least knew this one. "It's a magic item. I've seen something like this once before. Ribbon like this is wrapped around a limb underneath armor to increase strength and endurance. Usually it's worn around the arms through. But what caused this magic item to pierce him like this?"

Before the three could answer his question, another soldier called him over, claiming that he had found something strange.

The champion left the three soldiers and the standing man to make his way over to another pair of soldiers. The two wasted no time, pointing at the area of interest. "Take a look at this captain."

Gazef looked, but he was unsure of what was so important. The two soldiers had removed the fallen man's helmet, revealing the vicious wound that had taken his life. The back of the man's head was bashed in, mixing blood and bone and hair and brain into a foul smelling clotted lump of foulness. It was ugly, but it was hardly unusual. "I don't see what's so strange. This man took a mace or a morningstar to the back of his head and died."

But his men were unabashed. "Yeah, there's nothing weird about getting crowned with a mace. But take a look at the fellow's helmet and tell me what you think." He handed over the plain steel helm without another word.

As Gazef held the helmet in his hands, he realized what made his comrades think that there was something wrong. The helmet was pristine, undented, undamaged, there was no sign that anything had happened except for the coating of dried blood on the inside. It was like someone had put the helmet on the dead man after his head was caved in.

The warriors continued going over the scene, trying to piece together what happened. Several of the fallen knights had wounds like the first man, vicious injuries that didn't seem to have damaged their armor at all. And a few others exhibited something similar to the standing man, where their own magic items had turned against them. Two men had fingers broken by rings, one had been blinded by a pair of magical glasses, and five had apparently been strangled by their own necklaces. The interesting thing was that the necklaces were all the same. They were pendants depicting the symbol of the God of Life, a God rarely worshipped outside of the Slane Theocracy.

That caught Gazef's interest like nothing else there. One such necklace wouldn't have been too strange. Just because the God of Life was unpopular outside of the Theocracy didn't mean that nobody venerated him. There were people that worshipped that particular god in the Empire and even his own Kingdom. A single knight that worshipped the God of Life wouldn't be that strange. But to have five of them in the same unit? That raised questions.

His men were moving on from the dead knights to the horses and Gazef was about ready to leave. 'We'll take some of the breastplates with the Empire's livery upon them, and the five pendants, and whatever magic items we can salvage and head to the village to ask some questions.' Even more than before, that village seemed to hold the answers he sought.

But those plans went out the window when the call came up. "We have a live one!"

Gazef immediately headed over to where his warriors were quickly congregating around one of the dead horses. The armored figures quickly made a path for their captain as he went straight to the three that were shifting the dead horse up so that a fourth man could pull out the injured knight that was trapped underneath.

He barely spared the horse a glance, its head had been smashed in much like the knights', his attention was all on the sixteenth knight at that place of carnage. The man was badly hurt, his legs looked mangled and broken from having the horse fall on him and Cygnus had to bodily haul the man out from under the dead animal to lie on the grass.

A part of Gazef threatened to feel pity for the man, for having been so badly hurt. But as he looked upon the gasping form of the fallen knight and his twisted, bloody legs he quickly crushed that pity and threw it away. This man was almost certainly part of the group that had been butchering villages for weeks. Gazef Stronoff could not afford to feel pity for such a criminal.

It was the invincible mask of the Kingdom's Strongest that looked down upon the grievously injured knight, not the man Gazef Stronoff. His eyes were like coals and his voice was like steel as he asked his first question. "Who are you?"

The knight just gasped in pain and bit back on a scream from the agony of his injuries. He proceeded to ignore all of the other questions that Gazef asked. 'Where did you come from?' 'What is your objective?' 'Where are your comrades?' 'What happened here?' Every inquiry was met with the same whimpers of pain.

Despite the man's allegiance, and his likely deeds, Gazef could not bring himself to ask any further questions. He was obviously in too much pain to be interrogated, and Gazef had no interest in engaging in torture to uncover the truth.

He turned to the warriors that had assembled before him to watch the questioning. "We're moving out. Grab some of the breastplates with the empire's livery, and all of the magic items they had on them, but keep those five pendants separate. One of you will have to tie the prisoner to the saddle because we're taking him with us. We'll see if anyone in that village has the means to heal his injuries to the point that we can start asking questions." The assembled warriors scrambled to obey his command, readying horses and gathering gear and treasure.

Gazef went to gather up his own horse as he hollered at his men "Let's no dawdle, I don't want to be out here after dark with whatever caused this, and I rather like the idea of a proper bed after a month in the saddle!"

The men reacted with good cheer. Although it wasn't the way they imagined it would be, they could see the light at the end of the tunnel regarding this entire assignment. They were more eager to get out of here than he was. And Gazef WAS eager to have the job finished. He had been away from the capital for too long, the King would have need of him when he returned.

But such lofty thoughts were driven out of his head when he heard the sudden rush of pounding footsteps and a soldier shouting "Captain! Behind you!"

He turned and saw the impossible. The injured knight was running straight at him, blade in hand!

Gazef had no idea how the man was running in the state that he was in, but conscious thought gave way to long practice. His sword all but leapt from its sheathe to cut straight through the knight's sword and bisect him at the waist, cleaving through armor and flesh like it wasn't even there.

Blood splattered and the man's dying shriek could no doubt be heard for miles.

The Kingdom's champion was tempted to curse the fool and praise him for his endurance at the same time.

But something was wrong. It had been too easy.

True, he was able to cut a man in half even through armor, and even do so like there was no resistance. But just now, it wasn't 'like there was no resistance' there 'was' no resistance. It was like cutting through air. The hairs on the back of his neck started to stand up, but before anything else could happen, the two halves of the man's body seemed to… evaporate. Blood, blade, armor, everything just shimmered and faded away.

Every sense Gazef Stronoff had shouted at him of impending danger as he brought his sword back up to guard position, but as he looked around he couldn't see anything wrong. His men just stared back at him, unfazed.

Unmoving.

One look at their eyes and their reactions was enough to tip him off. Realization surged through him and he began activating Martial Arts.

'[Ability Boost], [Greater Ability Boost], [Mental Enhancement], [Enhanced Magic Resistance]' All of them were Martial Arts meant to strengthen himself and protect himself from mental assault.

As he moved to put his back to his horse, he felt power surge through him and the images of his trusted warriors standing before him began to waver and fade as the illusion was pierced.

In its place was a scene of carnage even greater than what had been there before.

Where before his men had been standing, proud and strong before the horrors they now bore witness to, now they lay among the dead that they had been searching. Limbs were twisted, faces smashed in, and others seemed utterly unharmed but just as unmoving. 'Aimon, Bertrand, Cygnus… everyone….'

"Captain! Captain! Wake up Captain!"

He whirled to face the voice. He looked over the corpse of his war horse, dead like everything else with its head smashed in, and saw one man facing the injured knight.

The injured knight was wielding not a sword, but a heavy flail on a chain as he swung at Gazef's last living soldier. The warrior used Martial Arts to get his sword in the way in time to block the swing, but as Gazef watched the chain seemed to pass through the steel sword like it wasn't even there, like the weapon wasn't even real, bringing the heavy head of the flail to strike the side of his head with a meaty 'THWACK'.

Gazef watched, stunned, as his last warrior fell like a puppet with its strings cut, and the knight of Baharuth wrenched the flail from the head of his victim, spraying brains and blood and bits of bone through the air.

But the blow left his subordinate's helmet completely undamaged.

Anger and hatred surged through him at the sight of the slaughter. The slaughter of the Baharuth Empire's knights, of his warriors, of the horses used by both parties, they were all killed by this one man, by this one _thing_ and he had no intention of letting it get away. This was not simply an enemy of his kingdom, this was an enemy of all humanity and justice would be served.

"What the hell are you!?" he snarled as he brought his sword to bear.

In response, the knight turned to face him, walking on twisted, bloody, mangled legs, and as Gazef watched the figure shimmered and shifted. The twisted legs grew longer and whole, and the steel armor favored by the Empire shifted and changed into what seemed to be a set of armor made of tarnished and blackened coins.

The figure that stood before Gazef looked like a man. A man with golden hair and bronze skin. But for all that it looked like a man, everything about it just felt profoundly _wrong_ to Gazef Stronoff. He felt instinctively that he was looking at something that should not be. He had no idea what this gilded figure was, but it was undoubtedly some kind of monster, and he had no intention of letting it escape after killing his countrymen.

"I am Gazef Stronoff, the Warrior-Captain of the Kingdom of Re-Estize! I have no idea who or what you are, but for the atrocities you have committed here, you shall pay with your life!" Gazef changed out his Martial Arts as he prepared to attack. He had no idea about the full capabilities of the monster before him, but he knew that it could use illusions and that it could apparently bypass armor. He had no intention of letting the battle drag on.

Faced with the strongest man in the surrounding regions ready to attack, the inhuman creature just smiled a horrible, painted on smile. Its voice was like honeyed silk as it slithered through the air. "My master bade me to destroy any and all knights on horseback that were outside, and to slay any who dared attempt escape. You shall receive no more mercy than any of the others human."

The fiend lifted its flail and pointed it straight at him, as if in challenge. Gazef saw that the weapon had changed too. Where before it was made of steel, now its chain was made of glittering ruby links. The head of the flail, formally of iron and steel construction was now made of silver with what looked like diamond spikes.

Gazef was unsure if it was the creature's special ability, or some property of the weapon itself that allowed it to treat armor as if it did not exist, but the answer was simple in either case. Just don't let the enemy strike a single blow and the distinction was meaningless.

Howling at the top of his lungs, the Kingdom's strongest warrior charged the golden abomination at blinding speed.

XXXXXXXXX

"I see" Herohero murmured "So that's what's been going on."

It had taken Momonga a little while, but he had brought his friend up to speed on what he had found, and what had happened at the village.

With that out of the way, he turned to Lucifer who was currently serving more tea to the knight at his side. "So, Lucifer-san, with all of that said would you please explain what you were talking about earlier? What did you find out from your… friend?"

The angel looked at him, and then drained his cup in one long draught before setting it aside and leaning forward to rest on his forearms. "Okay, here's what went down on my end of things."

"I was flying above the village, observing the goings on, when I hear this clown" he gestured towards the placid knight "directing his knights to distract the Death Knight you set on them so that he could make his escape, that he was their captain and therefore worth more. So I figured that he would be a good person to ask some questions. I used 'telepathy' to talk to him and spouted some nonsense about him being chosen and crap, and then opened a 'Portal' and guided him into it while protecting him from the Death Knight. Then as soon as he got here I hit him with the strongest mind control I have and asked him a couple hundred questions. You with me so far?"

The skeleton and ooze nodded, and their friend continued on with his explanation.

"Okay, so here's the rundown. The first thing I asked about was the purpose of his mission, what's supposed to happen next at that village and why? And what should I find out but that the whole scenario is a trap. These guys" he indicated Belius again "have been going around for a couple of months now attacking frontier villages to draw out this big-time badass by the name of Gazef Stronoff. Now, this chump here and his buddies wouldn't have been any match for the guy, but ol' Beli-boy's bosses, this so-called Sunlight Scripture, should be able to get the job done through tactics and superior numbers. The second this Gazef guy hangs around too long in the wrong place and the wrong time, they'll jump him something like forty to one and bushwhack him. I called Momonga and told him to get out of there before any of this could happen with him in the middle of it, in the interests of protecting his life and protecting the anonymity of Nazarick. Any questions?"

"Yes." Herohero immediately jumped in. "This man, Gazef Stronoff, he's supposed to be strong right? Do we know how strong?"

Lucifer sat back in his chair and shrugged. "We can't really tell. According to the chump he's supposed to be the strongest man alive, but I haven't seen him myself so who knows how true that is. But until we can get more information I'm assuming this guy is at least as tough as old Touchy Feely and saying we should stay out of his way."

"I see." Momonga could certainly understand his friend's logic. There was a lot that they didn't know. Carelessly meeting someone as powerful as this 'Gazef Stronoff' was supposed to be without doing their homework first was far more dangerous than anything they had done so far. "Do we know anything about what this man is like as a person?"

The angel glanced over at the knight again. "Hard to say how reliable it is, but this guy referred to Gazef as 'that thug who stands in the way of progress'. Doesn't sound like a very reasonable fellow. I'm not going to say it's impossible to talk sense with the man, not until I've seen him myself, but Momonga's undead. I figured that there was every chance that Gazef might have shown up, seen an Undead Overlord at the village he's supposed to protect, and decided to attack first and ask questions never. I don't think I need to say how long Momonga would survive if someone like Touch Me launched a sudden sneak attack from out of nowhere?"

Momonga managed to stop himself from shivering, barely. If Touch Me got the drop on him his only prayer would be to teleport away. If that was blocked by an ability, or a spell, or an item… he would die. Momonga had virtually no chance against Touch Me once their old Guildmaster closed the distance. Momonga would have been finished in seconds.

He saw Lucifer looking straight at him, and the blonde figure nodded. "Yeah, between that and the big question about how resurrection works in this world, about how resurrection works for _us_ , I figured that it was a good idea to stay out of whatever happens at that village. The last thing we need is to be dragged into battle with another guild the second day here."

The Overlord nodded, firmly in agreement with Lucifer's statement. "He's right, we don't need that kind of trouble. Especially so soon after arriving. We're still trying to find out more about the world around us, we should be careful in our interactions with others. Especially given the high chance that other YGGDRASIL players like us are out there."

Lucifer and Herohero both looked at him funny. Herohero was the one who spoke. "Momonga-san? What makes you think that there's a high chance that other Players are out there?"

Momonga was taken aback, not liking the feeling of being put on the spot. 'Did I say something stupid?' "W-well, we were brought here, so don't you think it's likely that other Players were brought here too? There's a high chance that there are other guilds out there, right?"

The angel shrugged. "Not really, no."

"Eh?"

"Don't get me wrong" Lucifer raised up a hand to forestall an argument. "I don't think that there's no chance that there are other Players here, but saying that there's a high chance of it is kind of baseless don't you think? We don't know enough to make that judgment. It might be a high chance, or it might be a low chance, or it might be any kind of a chance. We have no way of knowing. The only way to find out is to explore, ask questions, and learn. There might be loads of Players figuring things out just like us right now, or we might be alone out here. We have no way of knowing."

Momonga looked to Herohero, who nodded in response to Lucifer's statement. The skeleton cleared his throat, desperate to change the topic "Well, with that said, until we know for sure one way or the other we should probably be careful about what we do in this world, and make sure that we keep a close eye on what the creatures of Nazarick get up to. We could wind up making a bunch of unnecessary enemies if we're not careful."

Lucifer shrugged "Honestly, I don't think now is the time to discuss policy regarding the inhabitants of this New World. We have a quorum here, sure, but I still think we should wait until Tigris gets back before we decide things like that. Can we agree to table the discussion until everyone is here?"

Momonga hesitated for a second, and then nodded. Beside him Herohero did the same. 'We can't really talk about things like that without Tigris Euphrates-san here, can we?' But still, he intended to hammer that point home during the next big meeting.

Herohero raised a tendril. "Well, with that out of the way, I would like to ask a question. What do we do next regarding this whole Carne Village situation?"

The Overlord and the angel both looked at the slime. Momonga spoke first "Um, I thought we were just going to hole up in here and stay out of it? What do you have in mind Herohero-san?"

The black ooze seemed to shrink in on itself for a moment. "Well, we were talking about gathering information before right? About how we don't know enough especially about this world's strongest beings? Isn't this a really good time to gather some?"

Lucifer shifted in his chair. "I think I know where you're going with this, but go on. What are you proposing?"

Momonga wasn't at all sure about what Herohero was talking about, but gestured for his friend to share his thoughts.

The ooze seemed to have some difficulty getting it out. "W-well, what if, instead of just hiding in here, we… spy on the battle?"

Momonga immediately saw all the ways that that could possibly go wrong, where Lucifer just smiled.

Herohero seemed to cringe at the reactions. "What? We need to learn more about these guys. We can't plan around meeting them if we don't know what they're like and what they can do. We know that two powerful groups are about to go head to head, so what better way is there to find out about how they fight? We shouldn't let this opportunity slip out from between our fingers, don't you think?"

The Overlord shook his head "I'm not so sure. There are a lot of risks involved. If we got caught, we could end up revealing Nazarick to those who would wish it harm, and I don't think we should risk that when we know as little as we do. It could wind up getting everything wiped out. What do you think Lucifer-san?"

Lucifer kept on smiling. "I think that I like the way you think Herohero."

"Lucifer-san!?" Momonga was surprised, but deep down he knew that he shouldn't be.

"But!" the angel raised one finger up "I would advise a precaution. We have no idea how resurrection works for us yet, even if the maid experiment had good results. I say that only one of us should be put at risk. If things go bad, we can resurrect the individual in question and Nazarick won't be left leaderless. What do you think?"

Momonga didn't like the sound of it at all. "If we do that then it means sending one of our comrades out on his own with who knows what kinds of dangers awaiting him, I don't think it's a good idea."

Herohero, however, went the opposite direction. "I think that it's a good idea. We can't just hide here Momonga-san, we have to find out what we're dealing with and this is the best way we have. And we can't just send one of the NPCs out there, who knows what would happen. And even in the best case we'd be working with second hand information." The ooze turned to face the seated angel, "So, Lucifer-san, who should go out there? It should be the person most likely to evade notice right? So that would mean Tigris."

Lucifer slowly nodded. "I think that makes the most sense. Send a spy to do a spy's job I say. Hang on a second, I'll call him back here."

Momonga tried to raise an objection, but Herohero started consoling him before he even got the words out. "Relax Momonga-san. We're just going out to have a look at what the natives of this place can do. We've done things even more dangerous back in YGGDRASIL, so it should be fine, right?"

Lucifer, meanwhile, had started his call. "[Message]. Hey, Tigris, we need to…."

After that first moment the angel stopped in mid-sentence, stunned.

Both skeleton and ooze looked over at him. "Um, Lucifer-san?" the Overlord ventured.

The blonde figure shook out of his torpor with a look of distinct irritation. "Did he just hang up on me? Hang on one second you two. [Message] Did you just hang up on me? Listen, this is…."

Momonga and Herohero watched as Lucifer faltered in mid-sentence once again. Rather than just sit there stunned however, Lucifer's face went from irritated to serious anger. "[Message], Tigris stop dicking around, this is…."

The same thing happened once more. "[Message] Would you stop…."

Herohero dared to break the silence after their friend went silent for the fourth time. "Um, Lucifer-san, what's happening?"

The angel sent him a disgusted look. "Every time I message that prick he just ends the call without listening to a word I say. You know, I'm a pretty patient person, but this sort of thing pisses me off. [Message] Listen up you…." Lucifer's head fell. "Hung up again, instantly."

Momonga leaned back into his chair as Lucifer threw his arms up above him and let out a groan of irritation. The angel's eyes flashed as they locked on to the Guildmaster. "Would you believe me if I told you that this man has a PhD? A freaking PhD and he can't answer the goddamned phone? This is ridiculous."

Lucifer just shook his head without waiting for an answer and gave the table a look that could melt steal. "A PhD and this is the best he can do? He just up and ignores us right now at this critical juncture? Forget PhD, this guy is a… [Message] P! [Message] h! [Message] Dumbass!"

After screaming the last three words into the air, Lucifer leaned back into his seat and gave a huge sigh. "Jackass…."

Herohero looked over to Momonga, silently asking what they should do. Momonga spent a few moments thinking about how everything had gone before, and how he might soothe Lucifer's irritation. But before he could say anything, the angel leaned forward and hopped to his feet, his wings appearing upon his shoulders as he resumed floating above the floor. "Well, it looks like it falls to me instead."

Momonga immediately clued into what he meant and surged to his feet. "Wait Lucifer-san, you don't have to go out there on your own! We should head out there as a group, we have no idea what might happen so we shouldn't leave anything to chance."

Lucifer ignored him, removing an item from his inventory. It was a laurel wreath crown, like those worn by the ancient Romans. Only instead of being made of plants, the branches were made of solid gold, and the 'leaves' were exquisitely sculpted jade and emerald. Lucifer jammed the thing onto his head, squeezing it between his temples and his horns before looking over to Momonga and answering his question. "Having everyone go out there puts even more to chance Momonga. Since we don't know what we're walking into, we have to send the person most likely to survive if things go wrong. In this case, it's Tigris. He would be the person most likely to stay unnoticed, and the most likely to escape if things went bad." A note of irritation and exasperation entered the man's tone as he continued on "However, since he apparently decided that now would be a pretty good time to start ignoring the necessity of communication, it falls to me to go out there. I'm the most likely to survive a stroke of bad luck than either of you."

Herohero cleared his throat with a wet sound and stated fact. "But Lucifer-san, your weakness would stop you wouldn't it? Wouldn't you be the one most at risk since you can't run?"

It took Momonga a moment to remember, but he could confirm Herohero's words as the truth. 'Lucifer-san said he'd be the most likely to escape, but that's not true. He wouldn't be able to escape.'

That wasn't to say that Lucifer wasn't fast, he certainly was, but he wouldn't be able to escape. Every class had its weaknesses and vulnerabilities. And Lucifer's build was no exception despite the angel's own best efforts. The vulnerability that stood out now came as a consequence to his 'Root of Evil' class. That is, Players with that class could not flee from battle. Regardless of who started it, and where, and how, a 'Root of Evil' had no choice but to fight to the end.

One could not run from the consequences of their sins. Or perhaps the [Pride] that as the final ability of the class would allow no other outcome but victory, incapable of bearing the shame of running away or living with the shame of defeat.

'Wait… [Pride]….' Momonga felt like he had remembered something important, but he wasn't entirely sure why.

Lucifer looked askance at the ooze's question. "You're right, I can't flee from a fight. Unless that rule has been done away with in this place, if I get caught then I have no choice but to talk my way out of it, or else resort to force of arms. But there's a big difference here."

He drew up to his full height, which wasn't much, and looked down his nose at Herohero. "If events conspire to drag me into combat, I will simply have to crush the enemy. If either of you were put in the same situation, you'd just get slaughtered. So that's why I'm going to go out there and see what I can see. You two stay here and guard Nazarick, I'll be back soon."

Momonga was struck silent by the sheer _confidence_ in that statement. On some level, he had to admit that his friend wasn't wrong. Herohero would be a terrible choice for this. The ooze was practically invincible to physical assault, but he had a large number of magical weaknesses that were easy to exploit. A group of magic users would bring him to a swift end.

And Momonga himself quailed at the thought of fighting forty powerful spellcasters at the same time. His magical defenses were good, but they weren't _that_ good. Combine that with his focus on necromancy and death magic, and how thoroughly players defended themselves against those things, and Momonga would be powerless against a large number of foes with varied abilities. His character was never built with PvP in mind.

With all of that in mind, Luci Fer was without a doubt the best choice to go. Between his build, his equipment, his skills, and his strategy, he was the one most likely to come out of a battle like that in one piece.

But….

'Lucifer-san's build may be very powerful against spellcasters, but that doesn't explain why he's so sure that he can win. We don't know enough to be making assumptions like that!' Momonga's conscience barked at him, and the skeleton could no longer stand idly by.

He jumped to his feet, determined to stop his friend from doing something foolish, but he was too late. Lucifer had finished changing his equipment and casting his preparatory spells, and was already on his way out through a summoned [Portal]. By the time Momonga shouted "Wait! Lucifer-san!" the twelve feathered wings had passed through and the dark oval vanished into the air, leaving the skeleton and the ooze alone.

Momonga turned to face his friend. "We have to go after him."

Herohero's mass shifted in what the skeleton thought was surprise. "But, I thought we just agreed to send just one of us. If we follow him now, we'll just make it more likely that he'll get caught."

The Overlord was caught between several desires. On the one hand, he did not want Lucifer, a fellow member of Ainz Ooal Gown, to come to harm. On the other, trying to help might do more harm than good. And that was in addition to his own preservation instincts telling him that it was dangerous to leave, that he should play it safe.

'But if I just stand here, and he gets caught….'

It might lead to the worst possible scenario. The idea that a friend might be found and killed, or captured, it sent shivers down Momonga's spine and demanded that he act.

Herohero slumped out of the chair and moved up to him. "Momonga-san, please, try to relax. He won't get caught. And even if he does, this is Lucifer-san we're talking about, you know? If anyone can talk his way out of a bad situation, it's him. And if that doesn't work, well, I'm sure that he'll find a way to avoid getting killed."

Momonga looked down at the ooze and tried to calm himself, but it was hard. "Do you really think that it will go so well Herohero-san?"

The pile of sludge nodded, as best he could. "I have to Momonga-san. Have faith in your comrades, and everything will turn out okay. I may not agree with Lucifer-san on everything, but at the same time I trust that he would never deliberately put himself, or the rest of us, at risk. I trust that he'll accomplish our goals and provide us with the information that we need. So, come on, let's get everything here in order. We can't just sit around and leave the NPCs wondering what's going on."

The Overlord almost flinched at that thought. 'I was so concerned about what this meant for us, that I never considered how the NPCs might react to what's happening.' It was an entirely different angle to the current events, one that he hadn't been thinking about all that much.

Momonga allowed himself to be lead to the higher levels, so that they could address the defenders of Nazarick of the current situation, and although he found it difficult, he tried to have faith in his friend's abilities, and tried to believe that everything would turn out for the best.

But still, despite this, he couldn't entirely banish the feeling of doubt in his heart that insisted that things would go wrong.

XXXXXXXXX

Gazef felt his muscles swell as his Martial Arts let him step into the Realm of Heroes and he took his first swing at the monster in the shape of a man. His sword was steel, coated in mithril, and it looked like nothing more than a solid sheet of silvery white as it surged toward the creature's neck.

The fiend made a little gesture with the flail, and the silver and diamond head of the weapon swung upward on its chain to knock the blade upward, sending the swing above the thing's head as it stepped forward and struck at him with its ring encrusted fist.

"[Instant Counter]!"

The Martial Art activated and his body blurred back into his stance to chop down at the incoming punch. 'If he's fooling enough to extend his arm for me, I'll simply sever it!'

His blade came down on the outstretched arm, but his opponent was not one to fall for such a simple maneuver. The golden monster turned its whole body, angling its arm down as it swung the flail with its other hand.

Gazef watched in disbelief as his blade struck and was angled away, gliding down the creature's armored forearm leaving little more than a dent, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the head of the flail swinging unerringly towards his temple.

He saw what his subordinate tried earlier, and knew that blocking this weapon was futile, the flail would just phase through his weapon like it wasn't even there.

"[Pace of the Wind]!"

So he had to dodge. He activated another Martial Art and moved back faster than humanly possible, feeling the wind as the enemy's weapon missed his head by scant inches.

He let out a harsh breath as he focused on his opponent. The fiend in question took up a stance, that same fake smile on that same fake fight, the head of the flail spinning through the air.

'This might be bad'

Both his first attack, and his counterattack. Both had been fluidly blocked and countered. Moreover, the enemy's weapon choice was becoming increasingly frustrating. Normally a flail would be a poor weapon for a duel. Someone of Gazef's level could easily predict the path of the chain and stay out of its way because the user would have so little control over where it went.

But, with this golden foe, that wasn't the case.

'It's like he can effortlessly control the path that the flail follows, twice now he sent the flail exactly where he wanted it to go with the smallest of movements and pinpoint precision. I can't even remember the last time something, anything, parried me like that, and with an imprecise weapon like a flail?'

Between the unnatural control, the strength and speed and inhuman skill in how it deflected his sword blow, the almost effortless way that it counterattacked him twice, the magic abilities it had displayed earlier. And who knew what other tricks the fiend might still have up its sleeve. It all came together to form a complete picture.

This was an extremely dangerous enemy.

Gazef forced himself to let go of the anger and indignation he felt over the slaughter of his men, and focus on the one before him. He wasn't a barbarian, rage would only hinder him. It took a few moments, but as the fury passed he eased into a familiar state of cold focus. He never let the swinging sphere of silver and gemstone leave his sight, and at the same time kept his attention on the enemy's shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. Those would be the places that would move first, they would be the first precursors to an attack.

He slowly closed the distance between himself and his enemy, carefully going over possible strategies, which Martial Arts would be the most effective?

Any warrior could only have so many Martial Arts active at the same time. For an exceptional fighter like Gazef, that limit was seven. Already four of those slots were taken up by Martial Arts to strengthen his body, his mind, and his resistance to magic. He couldn't let go of those for fear of being ensorcelled again. So he could activate at most three more, the question was what to do with them.

The golden fiend moved in response to Gazef, and the two slowly closed in, shifting this way and that for the better position. Gazef always kept the length of the glittering ruby chain in mind. As soon as he got too close, he was well aware that the weapon would be sent whirring straight into his head or chest. A single strike would be enough to decide the battle.

Again he cursed the politics and machinations that denied him of the Kingdom's Treasures. With them, this battle would look so less harrowing.

As he took another step, he decided on his fifth Martial Art and quietly activated it.

'[Sense Weakness]'

Gazef took a step to the side, away from the spinning flail as the Martial Art expanded his awareness of the world around him in ways that were impossible to explain. As he watched, two areas came to his attention. The first was the enemy's head and neck, obvious targets, and the second was almost as obvious. The creature's left wrist, bare of adornment as it continued to keep the flail in motion.

Another step, mirrored by his enemy, and he let the enhanced perception fade. He knew what he was looking for now, keeping it up would only waste precious stamina. A plan of attack grew more and more clear in his mind the longer he considered the enemy before him.

This would not be a battle decided by large, flashy techniques. The enemy had demonstrated its skill, big movements would only be parried, and overly complicated and fancy moves would just be countered. The attack would have to be concise, precise, quick, and clean. Anything else would be a waste of energy.

But he had no true idea of what this fiend was capable of. In response to this lack of knowledge, Gazef activated another Martial Art, one truly worthy of being called a secret, ultimate move.

'[Possibility Sense]'

As an extrasensory perception expanded his mind, it became clear that he acted just in time.

The gilded man darted forward, leaving a second self behind. The second self promptly vanished, leaving only the first one lunging towards him.

There was no time to think, no time to plan. He trusted his instincts, and the 'Possibility Sense' that warned him of incoming danger and what had to be done to save himself.

Gazef activated [Pace of the Wind] once again, whipping his sword up and behind his right shoulder, parallel to his spine, as he spun in a tight circle.

A heavy sound rang across the plain as his sword struck the flail of the enemy behind him and knocked it off course. Gazef's arms only barely held out against the monstrous strength of the blow, but the enhancement of the [Ability Boost] and [Greater Ability Boost] Martial Arts gave him the strength and endurance that he needed to turn the attack aside.

The first enemy, the one that even now swung at his back, went ignored. Gazef wasn't sure if it was the 'Possibility Sense' or one of his other Martial Arts, but it let him see the faint flickers around the edges of the creature that denoted its illusory nature. Just as the faintness of the enemy that now stood before him let him know that he was seeing through an 'invisibility' spell. How he blocked an attack that could pass through metal, he did not know. But the 'Possibility Sense' told him it could be done and he didn't question it.

The kingdom's champion lunged forward, striking while the iron was hot. But while his enemy was off balance, he was far from defenseless. A gesture sent the flail spinning through the air back towards Gazef's side, but a quick slash struck the ruby chain and sent it just barely over his head as he closed in.

A swift slash to the neck- deflected.

The golden fiend blocked the strike and angled it away from him with the flail's long chain, one hand gripping the weapon's gilded handle, the other holding the ruby links directly as he expertly angled Gazef's attack away from him.

But the Warrior-Captain of the Kingdom did not stop there. A vicious kick was sent into the enemy's belly, only for it to be swiftly side-stepped.

"[Instant Counter]"

Once more, his body blurred out of its awkward position, allowing Gazef to continue his attack.

Downward strike toward the head, side-slash toward the belly, upward diagonal slash, reverse slash to the neck, the left wrist, the shoulder, the upper arm, the waist, back to the neck, Gazef unleashed a flurry of deadly blows.

But every attack was dealt with the same way with a length of glittering red chain, expertly parried, perfectly deflected away without doing any harm.

The fiend stepped in, a quick gesture with one hand sending the ball of silver and diamond toward his elbow. Gazef stepped in even closer, kneeing up into the fork of the creature's legs as his sword caught the ruby chain once again.

It pivoted on one foot, sliding away from him in a slithering motion.

But in doing so it gave Gazef his back.

Gazef didn't hesitate for an instant and thrust his sword into the creature's kidneys.

And in response the fiend vanished into thin air.

The 'Possibility Sense' roared, and he immediately turned and swung his sword at just the right angle to deflect the incoming flail, batting it back into the air.

Once again the creature vanished.

Again and again it appeared, struck, and disappeared again. And each time Gazef moved as fast as he could to dodge or parry.

The golden fiend was no longer smiling, its face was set in an iron mask of concentration as it continued its barrage, sending the heavy silver ball toward Gazef's head, sides, back, knee, shoulder, and the Kingdom's champion grew ever more tired as he was forced to continue dancing, spinning, dodging, and ducking out of the way of each strike, only for the creature to vanish before he could counterattack.

Gazef knew that this couldn't continue forever. Sweat ran down his face in rivulets, his breathing was ragged, his body strained, his head pounding. Sooner or later he would slip up, and the enemy would strike home and cripple him.

He dove forward into a roll to avoid a strike to the back of his head, and then sprang to one side, over the corpse of one of the horses, rolling in the dirt and bloody mud as a second strike thudded into the ground. Gazef immediately sprang forward into a roll that brought him to his feet and let him dodge another attack, and saw the creature vanish once again.

Conscious thought had no place here. All he had that would let him react in time was instinct, augmented by his own Martial Arts. All the acrobatics had brought the battle into the killing field, where all the monster's victims lay broken on the ground.

A moment of thought and the prompting of the 'Possibility Sense' gave him a crucial idea and he went with it without hesitation.

Gazef gave the ground a mighty kick, sending up a spray of dirt and small rocks along with the dead body of a horse.

And that dead body went straight into the space where the creature was about to appear.

Teleportation cannot send someone into anything other than empty space. If one tried to teleport to a location that was already occupied by something, the magic would force the user into the nearest available open space.

The golden man appeared, not where the earth and rock and dead flesh flew through the air, but in the closest available space. The creature staggered forward a step, looking confusedly around itself.

The Gilded Devil appeared five feet away from Gazef Stronoff. And the Kingdom's Champion was already hurtling forward to meet it.

Startled by the unintended destination, disoriented by the forced relocation, it still reacted with the speed of a striking serpent and sent the flail hurtling through the air.

Some part of Gazef calculated the trajectory, and realized that it was predicated on his own movement speed.

If he continued his charge, the ball of silver and diamond would strike him right in the cheek.

But Gazef did not falter. He ducked his head and stayed the course. The only thing he did was activate the magic ring that he wore under his gauntlet.

Power surged through his body, propelling him forward even faster than before. He felt like his blood was on fire, but that didn't stop him.

He dashed forward and kept his head low, and he was past it, the ruby chain scraping against the top of his head as he closed the distance.

"RRRAAAGH! [Piercing Strike]!"

And buried his sword to the hilt in the monster's stomach.

The monster bent forward and let out a rattling gasp of pain as the sword went straight through its armor of enchanted coins and out of its back in a spray of silver blood.

Gazef showed no mercy, immediately pressing upwards on the blade, widening the wound as the Devil screamed.

But that scream turned from one of pain to one of rage as it dropped its weapon and wrapped its hands around Gazef's throat.

Or at least, it tried to. The dark haired man ducked down to protect his neck, but the monster simply placed its hands on either side of Gazef's head and began to crush its palms together.

"Y-you worthless piece of filth! Die, die as my Master commands! [Dominate Person]!"

Gazef's mind went white with the crushing pain and the magic that attempted to invade his thoughts.

His grip went weak on his sword as a command rang through his entire body. [Stay still]

But all it took to reinforce Gazef Stronoff's will was the sights around him. The helpless bodies of his men lying in the dirt and grass, the killed animals, the smell of blood, even the fallen knights of the empire. He focused on that, and the whispered commands faded, and his grip on his sword regained its strength.

Gazef screamed in pain as the monster continued to crush his skull, and he drew upon his dwindling reserves of strength and stamina to use one more Martial Art.

"Whatever you are, whoever you serve, I don't care! Get out of my Kingdom you abomination! [Six-Fold Slash of Light]!"

It was Gazef Stronoff's most famous Martial Art. A single strike that struck six different enemies at once.

He didn't normally use it against single combatants for the simple reason that he couldn't control where every attack went. So he reserved its use against groups of enemies, where there was less room to dodge and less need for accuracy. Against the golden man, he had no doubt that if he had tried it before now it would have been effortlessly dodged.

But now his blade was lodged in the creature's belly.

Six slashes moved up from the sword lodged in the Gilded Devil's abdomen, cutting through golden flesh and golden armor until the strike reached fresh air. It carved through muscle and bone alike and carved the creature into pieces.

The most devastating strike went straight up, parallel to the spine and splitting ribs, sternum, neck, and skull in two.

Silver blood splashed like a fountain and bathed the grass in shining fluid as Gazef was released and fell backwards away from the falling monster.

Gazef watched closely as the beast that slaughtered his friends and foes fell to its knees as pieces of it fell to the ground, and as it showed no sign of getting up, the Warrior-Captain finally began to relax as he released his Martial Arts one by one and lay flat on his back, panting in exertion.

He had not eaten or slept properly in weeks, and that battle was grueling. He had taxed himself to his limits.

'Just a moment or two of rest. And then I have to get over to that village. Have to find out what happened here. And then I have to see to the funeral arrangements….'

Gazef knew that there was plenty left to do. But he decided to take just a few minutes rest before he set about it. After all, the danger had passed, and his assignment was complete. He could afford to take a brief break.

Of course, for all his skill he never noticed the hidden activity around him. The numerous riders that were stalking him, or the shining figure that appeared high above.

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And that's the chapter complete, at long last! Sorry that this took so long, but I've just been busy lately. Between that and writer's block, this chapter came very slowly. And there's still plenty more to go! I know I've been saying this for a while now, but this time I mean it. Next chapter we finish the events of Carne village. I just hope that this battle with Gazef is enough to take the edge off until I get it done.

With that in mind, here's the next bit of Overlord Trivia.

MARTIAL ARTS

Unlike other things introduced thus far, Martial Arts are strictly a New World concept. They could be described as a Warrior's Magic. Power channeled not into things like fireballs and teleportation, but rather strengthening one's own body, mind, and weapons to be capable of things that would normally be impossible. There are numerous Martial Arts, learnable only through hard work and harsh experience, and they can be put to plenty of uses, but these uses are all only really useful in combat. Whether it be attack-based Martial Arts like 'Slashing Strike' or 'Heavy Blow' or defensive Martial Arts like 'Fortress' or sensory Martial Arts like Gazef's 'Weakness Sense' they're all meant to allow humanity to stand up to those stronger and faster than they are. There is no set list of Martial Arts. While there are plenty of famous ones that many people consider staples, there are just as many customized Martial Arts developed by individuals. New Martial Arts get invented all the time, and that trend doesn't seem to be in danger of ending anytime soon.

And now, for my next character focus, I think I'll try something a little different. Rather than a character, I'll focus on a creature instead.

 **GILDED DEVIL**

 **Alignment:** -500 – Extremely Evil

 **Level 35 Monster**

Gilded Devils are Mid-Tier Devils that can be summoned by the appropriate classes. Devious manipulators, they're more suited to destroying mankind with words than with violence. But while their physical statistics may not be all that impressive, their vast array of special abilities make them far more dangerous than most would give them credit for. The primary sin that a Gilded Devil is based on is the sin of Greed, and this reflects itself in how they are always sheathed in wealth as well as reflecting their preferred means of condemning souls to eternal damnation. Their armor is made of magically hardened gold and silver coins, and they have no shortage of jewelry on their person. In YGGDRASIL, the Gilded Devil was a preferred monster for Players to farm since it dropped an unusually large amount of treasure.

A Gilded Devil can use the following spells at will: Detect Thoughts (2nd Tier), Greater Teleport (7th Tier, self only), Misdirection (2nd Tier), Polymorph (5th Tier, self only, humanoid form only), Major Image (3rd Tier), and Suggestion (3rd Tier)

Furthermore, a Gilded Devil can use the following spells three times a day, each: Dominate Person (5th Tier), Greater Scrying (7th Tier)

A Gilded Devil also possesses the following special abilities:

 **Betrayal of Riches**

A Gilded Devil can turn an enemy's jewelry against them, causing the items to twist and form cruel barbs. This does a small amount of damage, disables any magical effects the item might possess, and additional effects depending on what precisely the item is. For example, a necklace affected by this ability will strangle its wearer. This ability can be resisted.

 **Liar's Largesse**

If a creature accepts a gift from a Gilded Devil, the one who received the gift receives a penalty against resisting the Gilded Devil's special abilities and spells as long as it retains the gift. It also automatically fails any attempt to resist the Gilded Devil's 'Greater Scrying' spell.

 **Scourge of Avarice**

A Gilded Devil can turn one thousand gold coins worth of jewelry on its person into a heavy flail. This weapon functions as a magic weapon and reduces the wisdom of any creature struck by it in addition to its normal damage. This weapon reverts to its normal form one minute after leaving the Devil's grasp, or upon the Gilded Devil's death.

 **Voracious Greed**

A Gilded Devil can grant itself regeneration by devouring jewelry or precious metals. It can also devour items made of precious materials worn by an enemy after pinning said enemy.

 **Scorn Base Metals**

A Gilded Devil's attacks ignore armor or weapons made of iron, steel, bronze, brass, or similar metals. This ability does not function on valuable metals such as mithril, adamantium, orichalcum, gold, platinum, or more valuable materials. It also does not function on non-metallic substances such as wood, cloth, or bone.

So, that's it for this chapter. Be sure to review and let me know what you thought about the chapter, as well as what you think about me adding dossiers on monsters like I did here. I hope you all enjoyed the read, and I'll see you all in the next chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

So, here we are, done with this chapter at long last. Jeez, looking at all of this, it's kind of hard to believe that I originally planned for chapters six, seven, and eight to be one chapter at some point. I never expected them to take up so much space. But, at long last, it's done with and we can put the events of Carne Village behind us. For now anyway. Thank you all for your patience. Now then, on with the show!

Please note, in previous chapters I referred to the top brass of the Slane Theocracy as the Six Archbishops. From this point onward, I shall be referring to them as the Six Cardinals.

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Chapter Eight

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The YGGDRASIL Player Luci-Fer stepped through the dark oval of ripped space clad in magic items and enchantments to protect against a number of different threats. This world was an unknown, a mystery, and the only thing he knew for sure was that he was stepping into a place of danger.

And if that were not enough, he had a disadvantage. If forced into combat, he could not flee. He had no choice but to continue until the fight was concluded, one way or another.

Many would be terrified by the possibility of being caught and killed by the enemy. No chance to escape, unknown powers arrayed against them, unknown territory, unknown personalities, it was easier to list the things that were known than what was unknown about the situation he was walking into. Many would have refused, running away from possible gain because of the fear of failure.

But the fallen angel felt no fear as he emerged from the 'Portal' and stepped into the sky. His wings caught the air around him and resisted gravity's call, bringing him into a stationary hover high above the ground.

[Silent Magic: Cloud Control]

[Silent Magic: Major Image]

They were weaker spells, fourth tier and third tier respectively. But Lucifer knew that ignoring the usefulness of lower tier spells just because they were lower tier was a fool's way of thinking.

Mist and fog coalesced into a moderately sized, puffy white cloud around him. And within that chilling mass of water vapor an illusion came into being showing nothing at all.

He had already cast 'Greater Invisibility' on himself before he left Nazarick, but there were numerous ways to bypass that. But something that can see the invisible might not be able to see through something that actually existed. Hence the cloud. There were also things that could see through fog and mist as if they did not exist, hence the illusion of an empty sky. By exploiting the caveats and exceptions of different vision types, with a few simple spells it was possible to put together a cover that would baffle most forms of observation. Piercing this hiding place and discerning his location would take a similar combination of spells. And that wasn't something someone normally did without a reason.

Lucifer gambled on the idea that the enemies below did not know that he was there, and therefore wouldn't look for him. Or, if they did look and employed spells like 'Detect Invisibility' and 'True Sight' to discover him, he would have time to see their preparations and leave before he could be spotted and engaged.

The possibility of danger, the possibility of being found, the idea of combat, the idea of capture or death, none of them held any fear for Lucifer. His heart and mind were clear of terror. All he felt at the situation was irritation that Tigris Euphrates, the person best suited for this job, had ignored him the way that he did. But the irritation and disappointment were handled with a weary familiarity. 'If you want something done properly, you have to do it yourself.'

He was far from new to the idea that he would have to pick up after the mistakes and negligence of others. It was a state of affairs he had dealt with for more years than he cared to count.

'I am better than anyone else. So, naturally, it falls to me to make sure that things get done right, to correct the mistakes and reinforce the weaknesses of those that I'm working with. Still, I wish that those clowns would at least _try_ to do things properly. Is that so much to ask?'

These thoughts were promptly banished from consideration. While they were undoubtedly true, they had no place in this undertaking.

The winged figure gazed down at the land almost a thousand meters below. From this height, people looked more like ants than anything else. His racial classes came with several traits and permanent abilities that improved his sight. A few minor spells enhanced this capability even further and allowed him to see what lay below as though he were but a dozen meters off the ground rather than a thousand.

The village was right where he left it. The fires had been put out and the people that lived there were trying to get things cleaned up in the face of the massacre. Most of them seemed to be gathered in a field a little bit north of the village that seemed to be a graveyard. But a handful of them were gathered at the village's southern end, watching what was happening. And that was where the interesting things were happening.

About a mile south of the village was a display of carnage. Something like forty men and half as many horses lay dead on the red stained grass, bodies mangled but armor pristine. One figure alone among the dead caught Lucifer's eye.

'Is that the Gilded Devil I summoned earlier? I almost forgot about him, shouldn't he have disappeared ages ago? Did he cause that massacre? But then, what did that to him?' The Gilded Devil was a shredded mess from the waist up, and while it was an interesting fact that it actually left a corpse behind, there was still the question of what killed the monster.

The obvious suspect would be the person walking away from the killing field and toward the village.

Lucifer spied a tall, heavily muscled figure with stern features and dark hair. He had a sword at his waist and carried a large sack over his shoulder as he trudged toward the village. He looked strong, but even from high in the sky Lucifer could see the signs of fatigue and exhaustion in his heaving chest and shaking limbs.

'So, who are you? Some kind of advance scout?'

[Silent Magic: Enemy Scan]

A translucent screen appeared before and displayed a smattering of information. But the most important thing was the name right at the top, and the color of the text.

Lucifer looked at that name, and the pale green color of the text, for several seconds before looking down at the armored figure below with much more interest.

'You gotta be kidding me.'

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Gazef Stronoff took deep, panting breaths as he walked toward the village. The battle with that monster had left him deeply fatigued from using so many Martial Arts in such a short amount of time. He had emerged from the battle without a scratch, but the effort it took to deflect the creature's heavy blows and the strain of using 'Possibility Sense' for so long, on top of the toll his magic ring took from him, left him mentally and physically exhausted. He wanted nothing more than to drop into a bed and sleep for a week.

But he knew that such a thing was impossible, there was still too much to do.

'I have to find out what happened at this village. I need to ensure that those knights out there were the last. Only then can I consider going home, after arranging for everyone's burial.'

He readjusted the pack he carried over one shoulder so he could more easily grip it. He felt mildly ashamed that he felt so strained by so mild a burden.

Inside of the rough burlap bag he carried the breastplate and helmet from one of the fallen knights, as well as the necklaces bearing the God of Light's symbol, the jewelry that the monster had turned into a heavy flail, and several other items he had rescued from his dead horse's saddlebags.

When he got close to the village, he could see the fear in their eyes. Fear, wariness, tiredness, Gazef could see it all in the small crowd that gathered at the village's edge as he drew near. He could also see thin smoke dispersing high in the air, and could smell burnt wood and blood.

Something had happened here, there was no mistaking that, and the Kingdom's Warrior-Captain was determined to find out what.

But the first thing he had to do was to get them to trust him.

Gazef closed in towards the growing crowd of villagers, some of which had armed themselves with clubs or sickles, and he set his burden on the ground to address them. "I am the Warrior-Captain of the Kingdom of Re-Estize, Gazef Stronoff. By order of the King, I have been visiting each of the frontier villages to exterminate knights from enemy countries who have been making trouble here. Please, I ask of you to summon your chieftain or elder. I must speak with him immediately."

His declaration of rank and intent seemed to unnerve them. He watched as the villagers glanced at one another and murmured among themselves, and then finally one of the young men ran off deeper into the village. The rest stayed where they were and kept their eyes on him. They said nothing and made no effort to welcome him or invite him closer.

Gazef sighed and sat down on the ground. He couldn't surrender his sword, so he hoped that this would make him seem less threatening. Of course, if they came at him and he intended to defend himself it would be no problem to rise to his feet and draw his blade to defend himself, but the villagers didn't necessarily know that. On top of that, he welcomed the rest.

These people were scared. The important thing was to keep them calm until he could talk to the person in charge, and hopefully from there he could secure an invitation and keep everybody from suspecting him of ill intentions. Only once that was done could he start seeking answers.

The wait wasn't a long one. It was less than ten minutes after the messenger had run off that he returned accompanied by an older man that seemed almost as tired as Gazef.

The older man, who could only be the Chief in Gazef's mind, took one look at him and at the symbol of the Kingdom emblazoned on his breastplate, and started forward. Two of the armed villagers tried to accompany him but they were quickly sent back with a gesture from the old man.

Gazef got to his feet as the Chief walked up to him and tried to make his best first impression. A lot depended on this.

The Chief stopped about five feet away and sent a glance toward the symbol on his breastplate again. "Jarek back there told me that there was an emissary from the kingdom. I take it that would be you."

Gazef nodded. "I am Gazef Stronoff, Warrior-Captain of the Kingdom of Re-Estize. I have come to the frontier villages hunting enemy knights that have been making trouble. Less than an hour ago I found what I believe to be the remains of these enemies slain at the hands of a nefarious monster. My own warriors were also slain by the beast before I could subdue it. I would like to request shelter at this village for the night, and both I and His Majesty would appreciate it if you could answer the questions I have. Just what happened at this village?"

As Gazef spoke, the chief's frown only got deeper. "If you are truly the Warrior-Captain of the Kingdom, then we have no reason to refuse you hospitality. Come inside, I don't think we should be talking about this out here."

Without further preamble, Gazef took up his bundle and was led by the chief into the village. He saw the scorched buildings, the bloodstains, the demolished houses near the square. This village had clearly been assaulted.

The chief ushered him into a house just past the village square and he was quickly invited to sit down at a rickety table, setting his burden on the floor. Fortunately, it seemed that they already had water boiling so tea was quickly poured and served. Gazef quietly thanked the older man for his hospitality.

In response the chief merely shook his head. "This is the very least we can do for a servant of our country. So, you came here hunting the marauders that did all of this?"

Gazef took a sip of his tea and nodded. "Yes. I have many questions, but I think the easiest way to answer them would be for you to tell me what happened here. It's clear that this village came under attack. I know that it might be hard, but would you please explain everything from the beginning?

The chief took a deep breath and let it out. Several moments passed before he finally began to speak. "Well, it all started this morning when a bunch of horsemen rode into the village out of nowhere…."

He proceeded to explain the day's events in as much detail as he could. The attack of the knights, how the people were rounded up and any stragglers were slain along with those who attempted to resist. He vividly recalled how the knights of the Empire clearly intended to massacre them all in the village square. But the part of the story that most interested the Kingdom's champion was how the village was saved by a mysterious spellcaster that commanded a pair of fearsome guardians.

"He just… left!" The chief exclaimed, full of exasperation. "Out of nowhere, without explanation or reason, he called in his guardians- who destroyed six houses by the way, and just vanished into thin air! You'd almost think he was running away from something."

Gazef listened to the old man's frustrations and doubts, only half listening as he tried to answer the mystery himself.

'Just who is this spellcaster Satoru, where did he come from, why did he help, where did he go, and why?'

'Why' was a question he found asking himself far too many times today.

Gazef had no way to know these things, so he set them aside for the time being as the chief brought his story of the day's events to a close.

A long silence passed as Gazef finished his tea. "I see. This village has clearly been through a great hardship. I must apologize to you for my failure to reach this place in time to protect you. The kingdom has undoubtedly failed the people of this village."

The chief waved away the apologies. "You have no need to apologize Warrior-Captain. Although I wish that you had arrived here sooner, the important thing is that we're still here. Admittedly, not unharmed, but I believe that the village will continue on. Tell me, now that you know the story of what happened here, what do you plan to do now?"

Gazef reached down and gripped the bag that he had carried with him from the killing field. "Well, the attack is over and the attackers are dead, so much of my duty here is already completed. I must return this evidence to the Kingdom; His Majesty needs to know what happened here. If I could, I would leave immediately, but unfortunately my mount was slain by the same creature that killed my men. So it looks like I'll be staying here in this village for a while until the rest of the men I brought south with me from the capital can catch up. Hopefully they decided to bring a spare horse." He dared to crack a smile. "Until then chief, I'm hoping that you'll allow me to stay here in this village. It shouldn't be more than a week and I'll be more than happy to help with whatever needs to be done. All I ask for is a roof over my head and, if you would be willing, perhaps some assistance with burying my fallen comrades? I can't just leave them out on the plains for something to make a meal out of them."

"You are too kind Master Stronoff. Of course, we of Carne Village have recently been through a… a great deal. We would be happy to have someone like you to help us get things back in order and protect us in case those knights come back. Please stay as long as you like."

The Kingdom's Champion nodded in response to the chief's generosity. "Thank you sir, I look forward to-"

That that moment a sudden urgent knocking came from the door before a man let himself in. He bent over and panted for a moment before he straightened himself and spoke. "Chief! A bunch of people just showed up around the village! They've already completely surrounded us and they're closing in!"

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"Everyone take heed, the target has entered the trap." A calm, deep voice reached everyone present.

The speaker was a fairly plain man with short blonde hair and dark eyes. Ordinarily he would be unremarkable, the sort that could easily blend into a crowd and be forgotten. A long scar ran down one side of his face and was his only defining feature.

However, no emotion showed in his voice or his eyes. His orders came down with a calm serenity backed by absolute confidence that they would be obeyed.

"Offer up your prayers to the Gods."

Everyone began their silent prayers, a shortened version of their usual exaltations. Even if they were in another country on a secret mission, their zealotry demanded at least this gesture.

In their faith they found strength. Strength of magic, strength of arms, and strength of will to do what must be done for the sake of a better future.

As their prayers concluded, their eyes were hard. Not one held even the slightest shred of doubt or hesitation.

"Begin."

With a single word a dozen of the robed figures left the rest of their company and made to surround the village with what seemed like practiced ease.

The scarred man watched his subordinates disperse with a soft sigh. Now that they had gone, he couldn't be certain of their movements, but he wasn't concerned about overseeing them. They were the elite of the elite. No, what filled his heart was relief that success was now at hand after so long.

Among the Six Scriptures, the greatest forces of the Slane Theocracy, the Sunlight Scripture was the most used to combat. Their creed and holy duty was to see to the extermination of demi-human threats. Naturally, the requirements to join their sacred brotherhood were extremely strict. One must be able to utilize at least the Third Tier of Divine Magic, be capable in martial combat, and be possessed of both strong will and deep faith.

As a result of these exceedingly high standards, the brotherhood had only around a hundred members. Half of which were here today.

But for all their experience on the battlefield, they were unused to long-term clandestine operations in the field. They had already missed several chances to finish the job due to their inexperience in such matters. It was no wonder that they were eager to be done with it and return home.

Although… unexpected assistance had been rendered in this matter.

Nigun Grid Luin, Captain of the Sunlight Scripture, remembered vividly the battle he witnessed less than an hour before. That golden menace that slaughtered the knights of the Theocracy like so much chattel, and the sight of their target subduing the beast. It was… moving.

'Truly, those fools in the Kingdom are unfit to rule if they are willing to throw away such a critical piece for so little.'

Given the choice, Nigun would be happy to have Gazef Stronoff serve the cause of humanity alongside him, but that seemed destined not to be. They were entrusted with a holy task for the good of the human race, and he would see that it was done.

He watched as the encirclement of the village was complete and muttered to himself. "Honestly, next time I'd like to get some help from the other teams so that we don't end up having to do all the work ourselves."

One of his fellows was quick to answer. "Yeah, this is weird. Normally we'd have backup from the Windflower Scripture for something this important."

Their captain nodded in agreement. "Indeed, I don't know why we were sent out here alone. Still, this will be good experience for us. We can take this as training for infiltrating enemy territory. That's probably what the Cardinals intended."

It was a complete lie of course. Nigun was well aware that a mission like this would probably never be handed to them again. The circumstances behind the odd orders were top secret, but he knew the truth.

The Black Scripture, the group that would normally handle a job like this, were protecting a Sacred treasure in anticipation of a Dragon Lord's revival, and the Windflower Scripture were chasing after a traitor that had stolen a treasure of the Miko Princesses.

He idly scratched at his scar, the mark of his only defeat. He loathed being in this country of fools, the home of the damned Blue Rose. The sooner this job was over with and he had returned to the Holy Land, the happier he would be.

'But still, those Nobles of the Kingdom are truly foolish. To allow their own factionalism to destroy their greatest trump card… it was the height of folly.'

It would be a complete waste of a great talent for Gazef to die here. But still, that waste was necessary to end the Kingdom's foolishness and allow humanity as a whole to take a step forward.

"Will we really be able to kill him?" One of his subordinates asked with fear in his voice.

Nigun did not berate him for this, his fear was well founded. They faced a mighty foe. However, the necessary arrangements had already been made.

"Do not fear. He does not have any of the Kingdom's Treasures with him. Without them, he is powerful but beatable. On top of that, we just saw him lay low a powerful enemy. That undoubtedly weakened him even if was never injured, and it also stripped him of the warriors under his command. He is alone, he is without equipment, he is not in top form. This will not be a battle, it will be an execution."

And, added to that, Nigun had his own trump card just in case.

At that moment, a 'Message' popped into his mind, telling him that the encirclement was complete.

"Now… begin the operation."

The men and women of the Sunlight Scripture began casting spells, and summoned the most powerful Angels that their abilities would permit.

Unbeknownst to any of them, an invisible figure watched from high above with great interest.

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"I see… so there _were_ people out there."

Gazef peeked out from a window into the darkening twilight, catching sight of three figures in masks and dark robes carefully making their way toward the village, maintaining an even distance from one another.

They held no weapons and wore no armor, but that did not mean that they were weak. On the contrary, it meant that they were likely spellcasters. And if he needed proof, hovering over their shoulders were creatures that were all too happy to provide it.

Angels.

They were monsters summoned from another world and many people, particularly the people of the Slane Theocracy, believed that they were messengers of the Gods. However, the priests of the Kingdom ruled that they had nothing to do with the Gods and were merely summoned monsters. It was one of the arguments that contributed to the tension between the two nations.

The religious questions held no importance to him though, Gazef was only interested in the threat that they posed as monsters. To him, Angels and Demons were stronger than many other monsters summoned using magic of a similar tier. Most of them had special abilities and some of them could even use magic. To his mind, they were formidable foes.

Of course, that depended on the individual Angel. But these Angels, with their shining breastplates and flaming swords, were unknown to him. They gave an impression of great strength. Not as powerful as that golden abomination, but still potent.

Beside him, the Chief of the village was visibly trembling. "W-who _are_ these people? What do they want from us? What have we done to deserve this?"

The Kingdom's champion simply shook his head. "You did nothing to deserve this, and they don't want anything from you. What they want is me."

The older man looked at Gazef, shocked. "You!?"

Gazef shot a dirty look out the window at the advancing enemies and gave a tight nod. He tried to contain his anger and panic at the situation. He knew that he needed a solution, and he had precious little time.

He stepped away from the window and immediately opened up the bundle he had carried with him from the site of the slaughter, fetching two small clay pots sealed with wax.

"Listen to me Chief" He said as he cracked the seal on the first pot, revealing an acid green liquid inside. He quickly gulped down the substance and set the empty container aside. He took a deep breath. "Listen."

He closed his eyes for a moment, and then looked back at the old man who truly looked lost. "These people are after me and me alone. They have no interest in you or this village. But they won't let you escape either for fear that you might be able to tell the Kingdom that they were here. Understand?"

"Y-yes I understand, but what are we going to do about it!?"

Gazef broke open the seal on the second pot, revealing a deep navy liquid this time which he spared no time in swallowing. As he set the second pot aside he answered the question. "I will go out to meet them. Maybe I will be victorious, maybe I won't. I honestly don't know. However, I must entrust you with a burden before I go. Do you have any paper? I need to write something, quickly."

Luckily, the chief did have writing supplies that he used to keep records of their produce, taxes, and trade. Gazef quickly took the materials and scribbled a note before tossing sand over it to dry the ink and placing it in the bundle.

Then, he picked up the heavy bag in one hand and forced it into the village chief's arms.

The old man nearly staggered under the sudden weight, but managed to keep upright. "J-just what is this!?"

Gazef secured his sword at his side and didn't even look at the old man as he answered the question. "It's evidence. Between my written testimony and the items in that bag, it's proof that the people responsible for these massacres are the Six Scriptures of the Slane Theocracy. I entrust this to you, sir, in the hopes that you will escape this place alive. My lieutenant and the remainder of my forces will find their way here within a week. When they arrive at this village, you must give them that bundle and tell them what you've seen here today. If you fear that you will not be able to escape this place alive, then I must charge you to hide that as best you can. If it comes to that, we'll simply have to hope that the enemy fails to find it, and that my men are more thorough. Now, let's go. I will attack the enemies to the south. Hopefully, they will withdraw their men north of the village and leave the path unguarded. You must take the opportunity to flee into the forest. That will be your only chance to get out of here. Go! Now!"

He didn't wait for the old man's reply. He felt the two potions he had consumed light his blood on fire and return some of the strength he had lost, he felt the headache lighten and his thoughts flowed more freely. He wished that he had been able to use more, but those two potions were all that he could rescue from his fallen steed's bags. Everything else had been broken and ruined.

The Kingdom's Champion heard the village elder exit into the square behind him as he set out for the south end of the village, where he saw a large cluster of enemies. His heart sank at the sight… there were many more of them than he had thought.

'But I don't have any choice. The only way that these people are going to escape is if I force these priests to give them a chance.'

That was the only way that proof of this treachery would reach the King. He needed to know who was responsible for this travesty, and he needed to learn of the treacherous, treasonous nobles that set him up for this ambush. If this was not done, then justice would never be served and those craven serpents would only make more trouble.

Despite the fear in his heart, despite his fury at the people of his country being abused in such a manner, his movements were smooth as he drew his sword and set out to meet those that would threaten his nation. He was under-equipped, he was alone, and he was not in the best condition to fight, and he had no plan, but he had no choice. For there to be any hope for the future of the Kingdom, he had to win.

With that thought in mind, Gazef Stronoff went forth to meet the foe.

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He set out from the south end of the village at a slow walk, almost like he was going for a stroll. Only the sword in his hand and the attention upon him gave the lie to the statement.

After everything, this was the only thing that might work. He only had his sword, so long range battle was out of the question, he didn't have the forces or the location for a defensive battle. His only hope was to get close and finish the enemy. And if he wanted to give the chief any chance of success in his evacuation he needed this to be big and loud. He had to draw those sentries away from their northern posts.

He was about to make a stupid, senseless sacrifice, but this was the only thing that might let Luin learn what he had learned. It was a long shot, depending on the chief surviving in the forest long enough for the reinforcements to arrive, or else that he was able to hide something and have a warrior find it after a spellcaster fails to locate it. It wasn't merely a long shot, it was a handful of long shots. But it was the only chance he had.

'Well, if these gentlemen want to see me, here I am!'

He shouted into the chilly evening air "Good evening, men of the Slane Theocracy!"

Gazef could see a few of them stir in the fading twilight. There was no doubt in his mind before, but it was nice to have confirmation.

"I hope you enjoyed your stay in my country! You've appreciated the hospitality of several villages so far, and no doubt a few noble houses before all of this started! But nothing is free! You've taken quite a bit for granted, it's time to pay the bill!"

He took his sword in both hands and braced himself as the spellcasters began their chants. He wasted no time and activated his first Martial Art.

"[Wind Stride]!"

Gazef ran forward as quickly as he could, with his Martial Art activated he moved like the wind and covered the ground between himself and his enemy at a blistering pace. At the same time he activated Martial Arts to defend himself against magic and strengthen his mind against enchantments.

There were at least forty men waiting for him, forty spellcasters working in unison and behind them were just as many Angels. They all began casting their magic as soon as he spoke earlier and they unleashed their power without mercy.

He felt a sudden dizziness invade his thoughts, he could think of no other term to describe it. A white void in his mind that consumed all thought and reason. But he firmed his thoughts and the sensation faded as the compulsion was resisted. He leapt to the side to avoid an almost invisible blur in the air that soared past and plowed through the earth with great force.

Gazef immediately ducked to avoid a beam of light and continued forward, but that was all the time he had. The Angels had surged forward when he had first charged, and now the entire flock of armored figures was upon him.

He rolled to the side to avoid the first blow, but a second Angel was already upon him, sword raised.

But such an assault was insufficient to harm Gazef. A return stroke struck the Angel across both upraised arms and the neck, sending the creature staggering back. A bright line shone where the blade parted armor and flesh, but it survived.

Gazef realized what was happening from the strange feeling he received when he struck the creature.

'These Angels have a special ability to reduce damage. Well then.' "[Weapon Enchantment]"

A crimson glow enveloped his blade as he moved forward into a knot of winged figures and struck. "[Sixfold Slash of Light]!"

One stroke became six, and just like that the thickly packed Angels had six of their number removed from the battlefield. They fell in pieces, and every piece broke into numerous motes of light as the mana that composed their bodies was freed from restraint and allowed to float away on the air.

It was a mighty blow, but there were many more enemies where those came from. More Angels wielding flaming swords approached from all sides.

"Too slow"

It was no boast. In the eyes of the Kingdom's greatest warrior, these Angels were truly too slow. He stepped forward past the heavy swing of the flaming sword, his own blade swinging upward to take off half of the creature's head. Before the body could dissipate he kicked it in the stomach, sending it flying back into a comrade behind it.

Concealed from view by the first Angel's dying lightshow the second Angel didn't see Gazef before his sword swung through its neck and destroyed it as well.

He ducked and spun to avoid a lunge from behind, his return stroke casually taking the head of the Angel responsible, and then immediately parried another strike coming from above, letting the flaming blade slide down the side of his sword toward the ground. He kicked the Angel to get some distance, and three more soared in, striking from above and below.

"[Fourfold Slash of Light]!"

One slash became four in a godly display of skill, reducing four more Angels to motes of light. The 'Fourfold Slash of Light' was not as powerful as the 'Sixfold Slash', but he had more control over where the attacks went and it was less taxing. And here, he would need to conserve every drop of strength that he could.

Already his head was pounding, sweat was beading on his brow, his arms were cramping up, and his breath was coming harder. The two potions helped, but they could only do so much.

From the corner of one eye he saw a dozen figures in black approaching from the village, a dozen Angels behind them. A note of relief entered Gazef's heart. His distraction was working. The encirclement of the village had been lifted.

'Chief, I'm leaving the rest to you.' It idly struck him that he was trusting so much to the hands of a man that he had met less than an hour ago. He didn't even know the man's name. 'Well, there's nothing to do about it now.'

More Angels phased into existence around him as the spellcasters replaced their losses and Gazef cursed them all in his heart for having such capabilities. They made it seem so easy.

He charged, but he could see at least thirty Angels in his way to the group of enemies. If they could just replace their losses with more magic, then his only way to win was to close into melee distance with the spellcasters themselves. Just fighting the Angels would be a waste of effort.

But that was easier said than done.

The first Angel to meet him had its hands cut off at the wrist before his second strike cleaved through its neck, and no sooner had he done away with it had he stepped to the side to avoid another blow only to burst forward and run the enemy through, catching a second Angel behind it in the neck. Both Angels began to fade as he ducked another strike and rolled to one side to avoid another blow.

The enemy's summoned creatures quickly swarmed him and began to attack from all sides. But that worked to Gazef's advantage as they clustered so closely to him.

"[Sixfold Slash of Light]!"

Six simultaneous strikes cut down half a dozen Angels, clearing room for him to close the distance to their masters.

And before those masters he saw eight more Angels pop into existence, his efforts rendered pointless. The pains in his body only grew worse with every strike he landed.

An Angel swooped in low and struck at him from below. He stepped back from the burning blade and cleaved the creature in half with a single horizontal slash. Then two more struck from either side.

A swift parry sent one Angel flying away from him long enough for him to close with the other and dispatch it with a pair of strikes.

He leapt forward and came up into a roll to try and close the distance to the spellcasters, but the distance was far too great. They were at least another fifty meters away, and in their presence he could see more Angels pop into existence.

Gazef didn't let up on the offensive. A swift cut ended another Angel but another Angel swooped in, forcing him to use [Instant Counter] to get his guard up in time. His sword clashed with the Angel's burning brand and turned it aside, leaving it open for a killing blow that he was swift to deliver.

'The Angels are getting faster. Are those damn priests enhancing their monsters with magic?'

The winged figures clustered in close again, prompting him to eliminate six more with a single swing of his blade. But this only made his arms cramp up more as six more Angels faded from the battlefield. He gritted his teeth, he wouldn't allow the enemy to see that he was in pain.

It was when the next attack came that he realized where he was mistaken.

'These Angels haven't gotten any faster' he realized as he only barely avoided another burning sword.

'I'm getting slower'.

He could hear the enemy from where they stood. Most likely their leader. "Well done. However, that is all you can do. Those of you who have lost your Angels, continue to summon them as needed. Everybody, focus your spells on Stronoff."

Gazef countered another attack and slew another Angel. This was bad and he knew it.

Four beams of light shot from the hands of four of the priests, forcing Gazef to abandon his assault to avoid them. His muscles were burning, aching, and cramping up. Dodging the magic forced him back, and once again the Angels mobbed him.

"[Sixfold Slash of Light]!" Once again half a dozen Angels fell, but their summoners didn't care. They simply called new creatures to their side and sent them forward.

"Bring them all on! Your Angels are nothing!" He roared as another Angel was struck down, but the enemy was unimpressed.

"Merely the roars of a caged beast. Keep your distance and keep summoning the Angels. Deplete his strength bit by bit."

This time Gazef saw who spoke. A blond man stood in the midst of the enemy, indistinguishable from anyone else he had ever met save for the scar on his face. If it weren't for that it would almost scarily easy to forget him. But Gazef swore in his heart that he wouldn't make that mistake. If they both left this place alive, Gazef would never forget that man's appearance.

The champion knew that defeated that man was the only chance he had of victory. It was a slim chance, but he would take anything.

But that would be far from simple. Gazef didn't fail to notice the Angel attending the man in question. It was undoubtedly a different type of Angel than these Warriors with flaming swords. Gazef didn't recognize it, but it was probably stronger than all the rest.

"Careful, the target is about to make a run for it. Keep the Angels on him!"

Gazef cursed in his heart, but he did not give in to despair.

'I knew that the road would be long and hard from the beginning. If this is the only path forward, then I have no choice but to give it all my might. Nothing else will let me survive here!'

He dashed forward "[Fourfold Slash of Light]!" A single swing cleared the way out of the crowd of Angels, giving him a straight path toward the spellcasters.

But as he activated his Martial Art he saw more Angels popping into existence around the enemy priests, and the Angels he had attempted to escape glided through the air ahead of him.

He moved forward and began his assault, striking, parrying, dodging, and every blow felled another Angel. Then, without warning he felt a sudden surge of pain in his belly.

A quick glance toward the source revealed a pair of the enemy spellcasters and that was all he needed to know. The main group of priests was preparing more spells as well.

"Come on! If you're priests then you should act like it, how about a little healing over here!?"

Their only response was another smashing pain in Gazef's gut.

Even if the attacks were invisible, Gazef could dodge by reading the traces in the air and the tells given by the opponent. But that didn't help much against almost fifty such attacks at once. And it didn't help that he was already injured and slowed.

Pain filled his entire body. He didn't know where it came from, all he knew was that he somehow still held his blade, that and the taste of copper welling up in his mouth.

He spat a mouthful of fresh blood upon the ground and tried his best to keep standing, crimson staining his chin and armor.

His legs shook, it was everything he had just to keep upright and in his stance. And that was when yet another Angel struck at him with its flaming sword.

Gazef tried to avoid it, but he was too slow and the blow struck home. The heavy blow hit him across the midsection, but his armor held and he was flung back. He tried a counterattack, but the summoned creature avoided the slow, weak attack with ease.

The Kingdom's greatest warrior was panting for breath, his sword shaking in his hands. A voice almost seemed to whisper into his ear, telling him to lie down and rest.

"Don't let up, he's almost through. Order your Angels to attack consecutively and don't give him the chance to recover."

The Angels, driven by their masters' will, had no mercy. They attacked one after another. He barely managed to avoid an attack from behind, and somehow managed to parry another attack from the side. A third struck his armor and glanced off, and he only barely managed to avoid a fourth attack from above.

He wanted to counterattack, but his strength was gone. He could no longer face such numerous foes.

His strength had diminished. He could only focus on one Angel at a time. His stamina was gone, Martial Arts were beyond his reach. The Angels completely encircled him, ready to strike, and Gazef had to acknowledge that this was the end.

Gazef lost focus for a moment as he felt death closing in, and almost went down to one knee. Panting, bloodied, tired, outnumbered, he tried his best to remain standing.

And then the invisible impacts came once more without warning.

He struggled with all his might to retain his balance, but something was wrong. His body didn't react the way he wanted it to, it refused to move the way he wanted to move, the strength that he needed was nowhere to be found.

With his body failing him, Gazef Stronoff fell to the ground surrounded by enemies.

It wasn't until he felt the grass poking through the seams in his armor that he even realized that he had fallen, and once realized what happened he immediately struggled to get back to his feet. But his body betrayed him.

"Now, finish the job. Send in a dozen Angels and make sure that he's dead."

Gazef had no choice but to accept that statement as fact. He was dead. He could no longer even grip a sword properly. But still, he refused to give up. He gritted his teeth and tried his hardest. That calm voice, it was like he didn't consider this a fight at all. He treated this as though it were something routine, not worthy of any particular consideration. It utterly infuriated him.

He had long known that he would die on the battlefield. He had slain too many to even consider any other fate. He had long known that the hatred of the Nobility would create difficulties for him.

But, even though he did not fear death, even though he knew that he would one day die in battle, he could not accept defeat. Not like this.

These people had ransacked several villages and killed hundreds of innocents just to draw him out, and used the Kingdom's aristocracy to ensure that he was without his equipment.

Gazef couldn't bear the idea that he would meet his ends at the hands of such honorless dogs. He could not bear the idea of being rendered so powerless.

"Graaaaaaah! Don't you dare look down on me!" He roared with all the fury of a beast as he found the strength to stand once more. His hands were shaking, his legs were unsteady, his panting breathing was ragged, his head felt like it was going to explode, and his eyes were glazed over, but Gazef had found the strength to stand.

His mind was a blur and his body felt like it was made from mud, but he refused to allow himself to rest, to rest was to die. And this small amount of pain was nothing compared to the innocent villagers of the Kingdom that had been slaughtered by these men.

"I am the Warrior-Captain of the Kingdom of Re-Estize, Gazef Stronoff! I love my country and it is my duty to defend it. How could I possibly lose to scum like you that defile this place with every step you take!? I shall not fall to you!"

The best he could do was to take as many of the enemy down as he could. Especially the man with the scar. If Gazef could slay him, he was certain that it would give the villagers the time they needed to escape, and ensure that the evidence he entrusted to them would reach the right hands. The rest would be in the hands of his lieutenant and in the hands of the Royal House. But this, giving the people the time they needed to escape, that was something he could accomplish.

To defend the people of the Kingdom he loved, that was all Gazef Stronoff wanted to do.

But that calm, collected voice once again reached his ears. "You will die here because all you can do is babble that nonsense Gazef Stronoff."

Gazef caught sight of the scarred man again even as his cruel words reached Gazef's ears.

"If you truly loved your country, you would have abandoned these border villages. If you had done that, you would not be dying here. Surely you must know that your life is worth more than a thousand of these peasants. You could not put your priorities in the proper order, and because of that you will fall here and your country will suffer for the loss of your strength. If you truly wished to protect your country, you should have left these wretches to die in order to preserve your own life to defend the Kingdom from greater threats. You may be mighty, but you are a fool."

Those calm words somehow managed to ignite an even greater rage within Gazef's heart. He panted out the words "You and I… will never… see eye to eye. If I'm such a fool, if I'm such easy prey, then come on over here and take me! Surely it must be easy for so wise a man as you!"

The plain blond man slowly shook his head, if anything he looked disappointed. "Empty taunts from a dead man. But I'm not surprised, words are all you have left at this point."

Gazef tried to keep his legs steady and his eyes on his target. "If I'm… so helpless… why don't you come over here and take my head then?!"

"All talk. Send the Angels, let's get this over with. The longer we waste time with this, the more time those villagers have to escape into the woods."

Countless wings beat in unison in response to that cold, cruel order.

Gazef readied his sword, and made to run forward.

And then something happened.

Where before there was nothing but exhaustion, now a great well of strength surged within him. The pain from his wounds faded, the taste of blood faded from his tongue, the shaking in his limbs ceased, his breath came easy and clear. His head, which felt like it was filled with sawdust and fog now felt sharp and refined, his thoughts no longer dulled by exhaustion and pain. Even the hunger in his belly faded away.

The champion of the Kingdom had no idea what just happened. All he knew was that he felt _fantastic_! He was practically glowing!

As he turned and swung his blade at an Angel to his right, he realized that that was more than a mere expression. A golden glow surrounded him, engulfing his entire body and sweeping away pain, injury, and fatigue.

In an instant the otherworldly light was gone, but in its wake it left a replenished and refreshed man.

"[Sixfold Slash of Light]!"

"What!?"

Gazef's heart danced when he heard that shocked exclamation when he carved six Angels in twain.

But while their summoners may have been surprised, the Angels themselves did not hesitate. They immediately closed in.

However, even though they were numerous and wielded blades of scorching flames, once more they were far too slow to touch Gazef Stronoff.

"[Weapon Enchantment], [Full Throttle], [Mental Enhancement], [Greater Ability Boost]." Once more his Martial Arts filled his body with the strength of heroes. From a parry to a counterattack, to a sudden assault, every strike cleaved an Angel in two.

"W-what is this? Is this the power of the Kingdom's fifth treasure? You weren't supposed to have any of them!"

Gazef idly noted that the man was wrong. None of the Kingdom's treasures had any power as great as this. Even he did not know what had just happened to him, but he wasn't going to question it. His only answer was to once more carve half a dozen Angels to pieces.

"Do not falter! Continue replacing your losses, and assist when the opportunity presents itself. Treasure or not, he shall not escape us." The initial surprise the scarred man clearly felt had faded. Gazef's recovery came as a great surprise, but he had reestablished control and was still certain of victory.

Once more Angels began popping into existence, taking the place of the slain. Gazef's brow furrowed as he considered the situation.

Gazef knew he couldn't just keep destroying Angels. They were easily replaced, expendable combatants. While he could keep going in the hope that the enemy would run out of mana to summon more, he couldn't be sure how long that would take. There was a very real chance that he would be exhausted again before that happened. He could already feel the beginnings of fatigue in his arms.

'I cannot rely on another miraculous reprieve. I must find a way out of this before my strength is spent.'

He tried to move through the surrounding swarm of Angels toward the spellcasters, but as expected they were determined not to let him move that way. Not that it mattered to Gazef, since he could cut down any of the Angels with a single blow, but moving toward the spellcasters put him directly in the path the newly summoned reinforcements.

A flicker in the air was the only warning.

Gazef leapt into a sprawling dive as more of those invisible impacts ripped through the space he occupied moments before.

Getting closer to the spellcasters also made it easier for them to target him with attack magic.

'And on top of that….'

Gazef eyed the Angel that hovered above the group of Theocracy spellcasters. It was larger than all the others and again of a type he didn't recognize. It held in its hands a shield and a large mace as it stared implacably back at him through its brilliant helm, its armor and the white fabric of its tabard shining in the sunset. Gazef had no idea what that Angel could do, but from its location it was clearly meant to be a last line of defense. It stood to reason that it would be more powerful than all the other Angels.

'If I engage that Angel, with all of those spellcasters right there to support it, I'm not sure if I could win even if I didn't have to worry about all the angels with swords.'

His strength may have returned to him, who knows how, but many obstacles still stood in his way.

'But, nothing ventured nothing gained.'

His only hope was to engage the spellcasters in melee. If he couldn't do that, then all hope was lost.

He ducked a flaming sword, parried a second and sent the Angel crashing into the first, then jumped aside to avoid a stab from behind.

Right now, he was surrounded by Angels but he had managed to slowly close the distance toward the spellcasters all this time. They were only about twenty meters away. All that stood between him and them was that distance and the Angels.

Gazef darted forward and cut an Angel down without giving it time to defend itself. Two more came from either side but he simply ran past them to engage the ones that stood behind them.

"[Fourfold Slash of Light]!"

Four more Angels were cut down. But while more of the creatures came at him from the sides and from behind, he finally had a way out of the encirclement.

"[Wind Stride]!"

He wasted no time in making use of it, he launched himself as far away from the blazing swords as quickly as he could, running full bore toward the Angels' masters.

The enemy wasted no time, quickly reciting incantations and gesturing towards him. Gazef let the [Weapon Enchantment] fade and replaced it with [Enhance Magic Resistance]; he knew he'd need it.

Three beams of shining light arced out toward him, but he was fast enough to duck and dodge past them, only for the earth beneath him to sudden wrench open and try to swallow him.

Gazef landed just shy of the pit that appeared and leapt away from it, toward the spellcasters, and dropped flat against the ground to let more of those invisible blasts pass just over his head.

There was no time to be lying down however as the ground twisted and churned. He pushed himself up and away just as another pit was wrenched open beneath him.

More Angels were summoned and immediately closed in on him as he regained his balance, but there was no time to go easy on these.

"[Fourfold Slash of Light]!" With one swing of his sword, four of the seven newly summoned Angels were greatly injured, but remained standing.

Gazef realized his error as he ducked one flaming slash and parried another. He had released his weapon enchantment to increase his speed, so he couldn't bypass these Angels' defenses anymore unless he reapplied it.

'But that doesn't matter.'

Rather than striking at the opening his parry had revealed, he grabbed the flying Angel and threw it into its brethren, leaving the whole group unbalanced.

Then he simply darted through the gap and left the flying creatures behind. His goal wasn't the Angels, it was the members of the Six Scriptures behind all of this.

He was seven meters away, and he knew they were afraid. The crowd of Angels was behind him, another squad of seven between him and the rest of the Angels, and there was only one defender left between his blade and the spellcasters themselves.

Gazef kept an eye on the Angel with the hammer as he continued to close the distance. One last obstacle.

He sidestepped five spears of light and dodged away from another pit, then leapt to one side to avoid more of those invisible projectiles…

And was smashed backward by another invisible blast while he was in the air.

The Kingdom's champion landed hard, and he rolled to bleed off the momentum until before finally getting to his feet and glaring back at the spellcasters. 'I was so close!'

From among the black clad crowd, he caught sight of the scarred man and his one lifted hand. In his mind, there was no doubt that the blond man was the one that struck him.

It didn't hurt all that much, but when he took a quick look at the distance he felt anger and panic fill his heart. While that spell hadn't done much damage, Gazef had been blown back almost fifteen meters, and the Angels were closing in again.

"Don't let him get close like that, make sure to keep the Angels between him and us. Keep some of them farther back to reinforce any weak points in the formation the second he makes them.

A dozen Angels broke off from the rest of the horde and gained altitude, clearly ready to move wherever needed, while the rest of the group charged.

He vision went black for an instant, but he focused his thoughts and his vision cleared, the [Blindness] spell resisted.

'Rather than try direct attack spells that might damage the Angels, they'll be trying impairment spells to try and support them eh? That's rather troubling.'

Gazef finally realized that this plan of attack wasn't going to work.

He could fight his way through the Angels, but they would just be summoned again. In theory, he could just keep killing Angels until the spellcasters ran out of mana, but he didn't know how long that would take. He had a feeling that continuously using Martial Arts like the 'Sixfold Slash of Light' would tire him out faster than summoning Angels would exhaust the enemy. He would need something different.

He would need something that he could use to strike down the enemy from where he was. Nothing else would do. If he broke through the blockade of Angels again, they would just overwhelm him with attack magic until they blasted him back, just like before.

'So, it comes down to this….'

Gazef Stronoff had learned swordplay from Vesture Croft Di Lofan, a retired Adamantite Adventurer and master of the sword. It was because of Vesture's tutelage, practically forced on a younger Gazef that he had become the Warrior-Captain of the Kingdom.

The old man had taught Gazef many secrets, but none were as great as the Martial Arts that the man invented himself. Among them were the 'Twin Slash' which Gazef had eventually enhanced until it became the 'Fourfold Slash of Light' and later the 'Sixfold Slash of Light', the Marital Art 'Possibility Sense' which made the impossible possible, but most importantly was the old man's most powerful attack, a Martial Art that took so much effort that Vesture himself couldn't even use it anymore because of his age.

An attack that surpassed the 'Sixfold Slash of Light', an exhausting attack to use, but at this point it was his only hope to break through these defenses.

The Angels bore down upon him, intent on hacking him to pieces with flaming blades.

"Haaaaaaaaagh!" A scream ripped from Gazef's throat as the red glow that surrounded his blade expanded to cover his entire body. The air itself shook in response, forcing the Angels back.

"What!?"

Gazef focused on the surprised exclamation. Sure enough he could see the scarred man, standing front and center of the group of enemy spellcasters.

The crimson fury of Gazef's battle spirit condensed, flowing from throughout his body into the blade of his sword. The blade in his hands looked like it was engulfed in fire, more so even then the blazing swords of Angels around him. But what ignited in his hands was not merely living flame, but a living embodiment of his will to fight, and his desire to slay the enemy before him.

"Men of the Slane Theocracy! You believe that I am a fool because I will fight to the end to protect the weak! You believe that it is right to sacrifice those who cannot protect themselves merely to preserve one life! You believe that it is unwise to allow one's feelings to guide their actions! I laugh at your naïveté! You believe that mere spirit cannot guide one to prosperity, but I reject that cold hearted thinking! You shall see what spirit can do! Witness the power of my spirit, the love I bear toward my country, my will to defend it! You shall pay for your crimes, in the name of the Kingdom of Re-Estize, its Ruler, its future and its people!"

A single slash.

"[Ultimate Strike]!"

XXXXXXXXX

Nigun was momentarily stunned by the display as their target was enveloped in burning crimson light, the embodiment of his will and fighting spirit, but experience quickly took over and shook him out of it as he analyzed what was happening.

He ignored the shocked cries of those around him as he saw the energy Gazef Stronoff was emitting was channeled into his blade.

It was a Martial Art, one he had never heard of, one nobody ever told him about. According to the information provided to him, Gazef's most powerful Martial Art was the 'Sixfold Slash of Light'. Evidently this was not true. However, if the strongest warrior of the Kingdom decided to use it now, then it must be something that would allow him to avoid the horde of Angels and attack his men directly. Meaning that it was a ranged attack.

The beast's words meant nothing to him, he merely watched, calmly, coldly, as he idly shook one hand, causing a bracelet to slide out from under his sleeve to where it could be seen on his wrist. It was a bracelet made of stone cubes loosely threaded onto a ring of metal. Every cube was of a different kind of stone, from slate, to limestone, to basalt, to granite, marble, sandstone, and numerous other kinds.

He watched Gazef's sword with an unblinking gaze as he waited for the attack to come, for whatever reason the Angels couldn't get close, so it fell to other magic to overcome a warrior's brutality.

After shouting some nonsense about 'spirit', Gazef swung his sword and unleashed his Martial Art.

"[Ultimate Strike]!"

The crimson aura, the embodiment of Gazef's vitality and stamina, formed a crimson blade that roared from the sword of metal and burned through the air towards the men of the Sunlight Scripture.

If a blade of metal could not pierce the foe, then Gazef would strike with a blade of spirit.

'Such idealism, what a fool.'

Nigun watched it closely, controlling his heart rate as the attack covered the distance at incredible speed. He knew he'd have to get this precisely right. While he might have been a fool, Gazef Stronoff was still a mighty warrior. Anything less than a perfect defense would be worthless.

The attack came in a straight line, fierce, untamed; it was the attack of a beast that ran on instinct. Utterly predictable.

Nigun slammed the hand with the bracelet onto the ground and activated the magic stored within. "[Wall of Stone]!"

The bracelet worked its magic, and for an instant Nigun felt a deep connection with the earth around him. He could feel the stones within, and the bedrock deep below. It only lasted for an instant, and for the followers of the God of Earth it would have been a profound religious experience. That instant of connection was all Nigun needed to do what he needed to do.

Stone erupted from the ground between himself and Gazef, shining white marble veined with darker stone, pristine and powerful. The stone quickly shaped itself into a wall in the moment that the magic lasted.

However, it was not merely a wall of stone standing in the way of the blast, rather the stone itself was a heavily faceted semi-circle. Angles upon angles were shaped from the rock, it was practically a work of art.

An instant after the wall was formed, Nigun felt rather than saw the crimson energy crash into it.

The ground shuddered, the wall shook as though it might break. But Nigun knew that it would not. He was an agent of the Gods themselves, supported by their servants, and acting for the sake of a better future for humanity. It was utterly impossible that they would allow him to falter here.

After an instant it was over and Nigun caught sight of a crimson glow off to his left. That told him all that he needed to know. His faith was justified.

The blade of burning spirit, capable of slicing through any simple defense, soared off into the distance at an angle from the wall, missing his men completely.

Silence rang through the battlefield. His own men were stunned.

Three steps took him past the wall and allowed him to look upon the origin of the attack.

Gazef Stronoff stood, barely, looking dumbfounded at him and the wall he created.

The Captain of the Sunlight Scripture just smiled at the sight.

XXXXXXXXX

Gazef could not believe what just happened.

The greatest Martial Art of his mentor, Vesture Croft Di Lofan, bested.

And to make it all worse there was that same damned scarred man smiling at him, mocking him.

"How!?"

His enemy snorted with derision at the question.

"It's quite simple Stronoff. The truth of the world made manifest. Brain shall triumph over brawn, calculated action shall triumph over blind instinct, magic shall surpass mere sweat and muscle, and the Gods shall favor the faithful over the heathen. That is all."

Gazef grit his teeth at the pointless rhetoric. He wanted to run forward, he wanted to show that murderer that he was wrong, that hard work and training _meant something_.

But he couldn't.

His legs were shaking, his arms wouldn't even move, he found it difficult to breathe.

That Martial Art was his last resort for a reason, it took too much out of the user. The massive expenditure of strength and stamina it took to unleash it was more than anyone could handle, even Gazef could only use it once a day.

He was relying on that attack ending the battle. The fact that it hadn't….

The scarred man continued to sneer. "It's a question of mental capacity and the support of the Gods Gazef Stronoff. Perhaps you know this, being a warrior, but it is far easier to deflect a blow than it is to simply block it. My bracelet, entrusted to me by my country, allows me to cast the Fifth Tier spell 'Wall of Stone' once a day, I used that to shape the earth into the appropriate shape. A surface that is nothing but angles, made of bright marble that reflects light. I reasoned that between these factors, your attack would find an angle and glance off rather than penetrate. And I was correct."

It was everything Gazef had just to remain standing as he racked his brains for something he could do, anything. He watched as the rest of the spellcasters emerged from behind the wall to stand behind their captain. He couldn't see their faces, but he could easily imagine their looks of smug triumph. He was completely floored. Fifth Tier magic? He had never fought against anyone capable of even Fourth Tier magic before. He doubted Vesture had fought anyone like that either. Off the top of his head he could only think of four or five people capable of such sorcery.

"And if that wasn't enough, I have the Gods themselves on my side!"

The Angel from before moved from behind the wall to hover over the spellcasters, holding its weapon firmly but making no move to do anything except float there.

"My Principality of Observation increases the defensive power of all allies in its field of vision. Naturally that includes me and the spells I cast. My Principality enhanced the defensive qualities of the wall, making it even more difficult to pierce. I will praise you however, this wall is four inches thick. I genuinely believe that if you had struck it square rather than hitting it at an angle you would have cleaved through it and killed me. But your attack was too easy to predict Gazef Stronoff. As it always seems to be with you, you did not put enough thought into your actions before you made a mistake."

'No, it can't end this way, not like this, not to this scum!'

"That Martial Art seems to have taken its toll. Well, no need to drag this out. Angels, kill Gazef Stronoff."

The Angels, bearing swords of flame, wasted no time surrounding him once again.

"Farewell Gazef Stronoff, you were as mighty as they say."

The Angels swooped down upon him, swords at the ready. Gazef's body finally gave out on him and he collapsed to his knees, sword still in his hands but powerless to move. The champion of the Kingdom just closed his eyes.

"D-dammit…."

'Everything… for nothing. Chief… I truly hope you managed to escape, I bought you all the time I can. Luin, the rest is up to you. Your Majesty… forgive me.'

The Angels closed the distance and swung, piercing the armor and carving deep into Gazef's flesh.

Or at least, that's what he expected to happen.

Rather than penetrate, the swords of scorching flame simply bounced off of him.

"What!? How!?"

Gazef opened his eyes and looked around, unable to believe the sight. He fell back as another Angel swung and clipped his neck, only for the sword to stop short of harming him.

He flinched away from the blow, even though he never felt a thing, and caught sight of himself. He stared in wonder at his own arm. It was suffused in the same glow that he saw before, that same golden radiance. It didn't heal his wounds this time, but it did not allow him to be harmed.

A glance at the people from the Theocracy found them just as bewildered, but their attention was focused not on him, but behind him.

Gazef managed, with difficulty, to rise to a sitting position and looked behind him.

He had no words for the figure that stood there, or rather, hovered.

The being's twelve wings cast long shadows over the battlefield as it stood before the setting sun, an aura of light surrounding it. An aura that Gazef realized he now shared.

The shining, winged figure walked forward on the air and set a hand on Gazef's shoulder. Its touch reminded him of sunlight soaking into wide plains, warming vast stretches of land.

He didn't know what was happening anymore, nor did he know what to say.

The being said nothing, and no expression showed upon its face.

Then, without warning, he felt a bare instant of numbness across his entire body.

And Gazef knew no more.

XXXXXXXXX

Nigun Grid Luin had seen many things in his years serving his country. But he had never before seen anything like this.

When the intruder touched Gazef Stronoff, he had frozen for a moment and then all color faded out of him. The man still knelt there, completely monochrome and utterly still.

Rather than focus on that though, he focused his attentions on the newcomer.

It appeared to be an Angel, judging from its appearance. But, if that was true, who summoned it?

'Could Gazef have summoned this creature? But how? Is this the power of the fifth treasure? If that light from earlier was a powerful healing spell cast by this Angel, then that would make sense.'

Surely the summoning of a powerful Angel would be worthy of being the treasure of a nation, but then the question would have to be asked, where did the item come from? Most such relics were held by the Slane Theocracy, granted to them by their Gods. Where did this one come from?

Even more importantly than that was the question of what kind of Angel now stood before him. It did not appear to be a mere Angel, something of such low rank wouldn't be able to use magic like this one was demonstrating. It did not appear to be an Archangel or a Principality either.

'Could it possibly be… a Power?'

Nigun was primarily a summoner, and more than that he was acknowledged as an expert on Angelic lore. Although he could only use Fourth Tier magic and the greatest Angels he could summon were Principalities, he was well versed on the lore of the greater Angels, the great Powers, the sublime Virtues, all the way to the almighty Dominions that reigned as the greatest of the Gods' messengers.

'When I saw a Power of Serenity summoned by a member of the Black Scripture, it kind of looked like this. But where on earth did the Kingdom get an item that could summon such a creature?' It was unbelievable. He would have to search Gazef Stronoff's body for the item after this battle was done

If the enemy truly was a Power, then they were in for a harsh fight. He didn't recognize exactly what kind of Power it was, but it wielded what looked like a three pronged spear and demonstrated the use of unknown magic so it was probably a particularly mighty example of that type of Angel, one that could attack from any range. Furthermore, Nigun could tell that many of his men were running low on mana. Summoning Archangels was a tiring business even for them, and constantly replenishing the slain Archangels of Flame took a hefty toll.

But still, their victory was assured. The only question would be if he had to use his last resort to make it happen. "Men, do not lose heart. Victory is near! It would appear that despite the intrigues of the Kingdom's nobles, the King of Re-Estize allowed Gazef to use one of the Kingdom's Treasures after all. Although we knew what four of the Kingdom's five treasures were capable of, the last was a mystery. That mystery has now been solved. The fifth treasure is an item that allows the summoning of a powerful Angel to assist him. From my observations, it appeared to be of the fourth rank of the Angelic hierarchy, a Power. But do not despair!" He quickly silenced their cries of alarm. "Although a Power is a mighty foe, it should not be as fierce as Gazef Stronoff. We have superior numbers and expertise. We shall slay this desperate trump card, and return triumphant! Now, strike it down!"

Upon Nigun's orders, half a dozen Archangels swooped down upon the twelve winged figure, striking with blades of searing fire.

In response… the being did nothing. A surge of surprise and happiness swelled up within him as the blades struck home. 'It wasn't given any orders, so it's just going to stand there… could we truly be that lucky!?'

But, rather than biting into the flesh of the foe, the fiery weapons struck what looked like the light surrounding the Power, and repelled off.

The twelve winged angel quickly glanced at its assailants, and then looked straight at Nigun. The blonde man couldn't help but take a step back as he looked a messenger of the heavens in the eye. He couldn't think of a time when an Angel looked… annoyed, before.

It raised its free hand, extending a single finger straight up.

"Prepare to use defensive magic! It's attacking!"

As his men prepared to defend themselves, the enemy Angel acted.

"[Contagious Flame]" It murmured the spell in a voice that somehow carried all the way over to them despite how softly it spoke, and the voice reminded Nigun of a clear stream, wide and strong and shining silver in the sunlight.

A small sphere of crimson fire appeared at the tip of the Angel's finger, and was carelessly flung at the nearest Archangel of Flame.

Nigun barely managed to restrain his laughter. The creature clearly wasn't thinking straight without its summoner to help. It actually used a fire spell against a creature with fire resistance like an Archangel of Flame? 'Ridiculously stupid, but still funny.'

Then the little sphere of fire struck the Archangel of Flame, and engulfed the creature with all the fury of the sun.

He was taken aback by the violent blaze. Even from so far away he could feel the heat. And though it was hard to keep his eyes open in the burning wind, he saw the Angel within struggle and writhe for a moment before dispersing.

"It actually overcame that Archangel's fire resistance!?"

But the spell was not finished.

From the fire that enveloped the Archangel of Flame, two more tiny spheres shot out and struck the two nearest targets, two more Archangels. They were engulfed in violent explosions of fire just as the first had.

And from each of the two Archangels, two more spheres shot out, engulfing four more Archangels in fire.

The entirety of the Sunlight Scripture watched in horror as the four Angels were destroyed and eight more were set ablaze, and then sixteen more after that.

By the time they all realized just what had happened the sixteen dead Archangels gave birth to thirty two more spheres of flame that quickly eradicated the remaining Archangels.

Leaving them alone with the enemy Power, their only defender the stalwart Principality that Nigun himself had summoned, as the remaining balls of fire rained down around the enemy, scouring the earth clear of plant life.

The whole thing had taken only a few seconds.

"Im-impossible…." Several members of the Sunlight Scripture uttered such words, but they didn't change the scene before them.

Nigun barely managed to shake himself out of his shock. He had never seen magic like that before, he had never even _heard_ of a spell like that before. Even the members of the Black Scripture, the most powerful agents of the Slane Theocracy, residents of the Realm of Heroes, could not slay so many Angels so easily. This was too much, even for a being as holy as a Power.

'Could it be that this isn't a Power, but a Virtue? If that's the case….' If that was the case then he would have no choice but to resort to his secret weapon.

But before he could consider anything reckless, that melodious voice reached their ears once again.

"Men of the Sunlight Scripture, I would ask of you a question."

The very notion of what had just happened stopped Nigun cold. An Angel, a mere summoned creature at that, had actually spoken on its own!? Normally an Angel's only vocalizations were its battle cries and the acknowledgements of orders given by a superior. Neither Nigun, nor any member of the Sunlight Scripture had encountered one that could truly think for itself.

The scarred man, still in shock, barely managed to battle out "J-just what _are_ you!?"

He was immediately skewered by that icy blue gaze and for a moment Nigun Grid Luin wanted nothing more than a spell that would let him melt through the ground and disappear.

The enemy Angel turned slightly to address the entirety of the group all at once.

"Men of the Slane Theocracy, ye who wield Angels like weapons, sharp as knives. My name is Lucifer. Does that name mean anything to any of you?"

"W-what…." Nigun could barely control himself. First this Angel appeared to protect Gazef, which was miraculous enough, but now it asked questions as through it was the most normal thing in the world. Moreover, the question made no sense! Since when did Angels have names beyond the name of their species!?

"I see, so you have not. Interesting, that you would know of Angels yet you would not know of that name. I'm afraid your value has just dropped considerably."

The Angel never moved, not even a twitch. It wasn't still like a person holding still, a person still twitched, breathed, this Angel was still like a statue. Its gaze pierced straight through Nigun, heavy with the weight of the ages. And its words pierced through them like shards of ice, its meaning more than clear.

Fear flooded through Nigun, driving away all thoughts of gathering information. Even though it had made no motion to attack, he felt a something he was long familiar with after so many battles and so many years of protecting his country. The feeling that his life was in danger, the cold touch of death mere inches away.

This foe was not one that would give any indication or warning before it attacked. The peaceful, neutral demeanor was a lie. Waiting for it to make the first move would be suicide. "Protect me you fools! Protect me if you want to live! Go, Principality of Observation!"

The Angel that had watched over him all this time lifted its mace and charged. The Principality was more powerful than an Archangel of Flame, but its special ability to enhance the defenses of its allies only activated when it was motionless so it made more sense to keep it out of battle. Still, Nigun didn't expect it to win, not against a Power or a Virtue or a… whatever this 'Lucifer' creature was. It was just supposed to buy time as he activated the trump card he pulled from his pocket.

As the Angel charged, the members of the Sunlight Scripture fell back on the spells that they knew and trusted most.

"[Charm Person], [Iron Hammer of Righteousness], [Emerald Sarcophagus], [Hold], [Fire Rain], [Holy Ray], [Shockwave], [Confusion], [Stalagmite Charge], [Open Wounds], [Poison], [Fear], [Word of Curse], [Blindness]…" More than forty different spells rained down on the enemy Angel as the Principality of Observation closed the distance.

Even as the storm of magic engulfed him, the Angel did nothing. Rains of embers, rays of light, spears of earth, and blows of invisible force rained down upon him, and he did not react. He didn't move, he didn't blink, he didn't even acknowledge the attempts to harm him as the Principality closed to melee range and raised its shining mace for a killing blow.

And exploded into motes of light.

Cries of shock, surprise, and despair rose up from the Sunlight Scripture at the sight of their Captain's summoned Angel being destroyed, leaving behind only the enemy Angel, who had not moved an inch.

But the one who was most shocked was Nigun himself.

He wasn't surprised that the Principality was destroyed. It was going up against what he was increasingly certain was a Virtue, the second highest level of Angel that there was. The Principality of Observation was certain to be defeated, there was no doubt of that. He sent it forth to buy time, not to claim victory.

No, what filled him with surprise and shocked him to his core was the manner of its destruction.

Nigun doubted any of his men had seen it, it had happened so fast. But he was different. The Principality did not just explode. First, there was a burst of mana coming out of its back, around where its stomach would be. And at the same time, he saw a blur around the Virtue's left arm, the arm that wasn't holding anything.

Taking it all together, he could piece together what happened.

The Virtue had simply punched its enemy with its free hand. A single, swift, strike to the gut had blown away the most powerful Angel he could summon.

It was utterly astonishing. The Principality of Observation was a creature skewed toward defense, its offensive and defensive abilities could be considered to be split 3:7. Not even a member of the Black Scripture could slay one in a single unarmed blow. And on top of that, Nigun's Natural Talent increased the abilities of summoned monsters, which would make his Principality even tougher. There were very few that could hope to stand against it.

And it was blown away by a single punch. The Virtue hadn't even looked at the creature it casually executed. There was no longer any doubt, although there was very little in the first place, that this foe was something that surpassed the might of mankind.

He was filled with terror, and also… with anticipation.

'If this is the power of a Virtue, then just how great with this creature truly be…?'

All the while the enemy Angel's gaze never left him, and those cold eyes burned into him with something that Nigun could not understand, and wasn't sure that he wanted to understand. He just hoped that he had enough time, because there was no doubt that the enemy would stop him from activated the crystal in his hands if it could.

"Keep it away from me! I'm going to summon the mightiest of Angels; you must buy me the time I need! It's the only chance we have of surviving this!" He shouted at them to defend him, to give everything in his defense. Because if he fell then there was no hope for any of them.

His men were slow, in their terror of what stood before them, but they were soldiers at heart, and their bodies obeyed even if their minds were terrified.

They arranged themselves between Nigun and the enemy Virtue, some of them summoning more Archangels of Flame merely to be meat shields.

Nigun wouldn't need much longer, the crystal was already shining bright in his hands as he unsealed the magic kept within.

He focused his all on summoning their salvation, hoping against hope that he could bring the Angel forth before the enemy intervened.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of that… _thing_ , hovering just in front of the frozen, colorless form of Gazef Stronoff. Stronoff hadn't moved, not so much as a twitch, since the Angel did whatever it did. He could only hope that the Angel's destruction would undo whatever spell was placed on him.

But all the more unnerving was the Angel itself, still watching him, still doing nothing. What was it planning?

Then that voice was heard once more, clear and pure. Its gaze never wavered for a moment as it spoke, and instilled yet more desperation into Nigun's summoning.

"Go ahead, I won't stop you. Whatever it is you plan to bring forth, it won't make any difference."

Those words made his heart beat faster, made his breath grow short. But as much as this creature filled him with terror, the words filled him with a savage joy.

'To be expected from a summoned creature, even an intelligent one, it is truly ignorant without the guidance of its summoner. Whatever it did to Stronoff, it was a horrible mistake.'

Several feverish seconds passed by in silence as the sun set and darkness engulfed the entire world. It felt like the end had come for the men of the Sunlight Scripture, but at the same time they held on to a spark of hope. They had faith in their Captain, and they had faith in their nation's treasure.

Finally, Nigun ritually crushed the crystal in his hand, and a brilliant radiance shone forth.

It was like the sun had risen again, dying the grass a brilliant white. A dull fragrance filled the air, erasing the stench of blood.

The legendary angel descended to earth, and Nigun exulted:

"Behold! The glorious visage of the highest Angel! The Dominion of Authority!"

It was a mass of many shining wings. Among those wings, a single pair of arms held a scepter symbolizing royal authority. No head or legs were visible. Despite its disturbing appearance, there was no doubt that it was a holy creature. Its very presence refreshed the air, turning it bright and clear.

The advent of the supreme incarnation of goodness drew wild cheers from everyone who saw it. The blood of Nigun's men boiled with excitement and hope.

Now, they could slay the enemy.

Now they could complete their mission.

Now they could finally go home.

And in the face of their jubilation, the enemy Angel…

Did nothing.

It looked upon the Dominion of Authority with the same passionless expression as it had always shown them, radiating the same aura of utter disregard.

The fact that it didn't understand what was about to happen filled Nigun's heart with irritation. Surely it must understand that it will soon be defeated!?

'It's apparently more intelligent than other summoned Angels; you'd think it would show some reaction to imminent defeat.'

There was little more irritating than dealing with those who did not know their place.

He leveled his finger at the opposing Angel, his irritation tempered with the joy of victory. "Behold Lucifer! Truly the only power that can overcome an Angel of your strength is an Angel of even greater power! Now, we shall banish you to whence you came and slay Gazef Stronoff! But do not despair. I don't know how the Kingdom obtained an item that could summon so holy a being as you, but we shall undoubtedly retrieve it from Stronoff's body. Rest easy, when you are called again, it shall be in the service of the true workers of the Gods. Your power shall be put to use for the good of all of humanity!"

Once more, the Virtue said nothing. It looked up at the highest of angels that floated above them, then it turned that unnerving gaze back to Nigun, and said nothing.

Somehow… its lack of reaction was more irritating than words ever could be. And at the same time, it made the joy in his heart vanish, replaced with uncertainty and unease.

"Grr, use it! Use 'Holy Smite'! Lay low this lesser brother of yours with your almighty power!"

It was magic of the Seventh Tier, a realm beyond the reach of humanity. Even with extended rituals the Slane Theocracy could not cast spells of such power, but the Dominion of Authority could wield such power with ease. Was there any question why this being was known as the greatest of the Heavenly Host?

In response to this order, the Dominion overhead broke its scepter, the pieces revolving around the Angel as it prepared to cast the mighty spell.

And the Virtue that was to be its target… did nothing.

That casual attitude, that disdain for all that stood around it… it filled Nigun with irritation… and beneath that irritation lurked suspicion and terror.

This Angel of the highest order had once slain one of the Demon Gods of legend. Its omnipotent power was enough to mark it as the mightiest being on the continent, it could easily destroy a city on its own if ordered to do so.

It was invincible.

Yet, if something could defeat it…

It would be something more powerful than a Demon God.

'No, such a creature cannot possibly exist!'

The Virtue looked up at the incarnation of purity and murmured "Such a disappointment."

[Holy Smite]

The spell was cast, and a pillar of light burned through the sky.

With a loud _whoosh_ a seemingly endless cascade of holy blue-white energy flooded down from the heavens to submerge the enemy Angel in the Gods' own wrath.

The Seventh Tier of magic, a power humanity could never hope to attain.

That sacred power would annihilate all evil beings, and even good creatures would meet the same fate. The only difference would be whether a body was left behind or a greasy spot on the floor. It was an unfathomable depth of _power_.

The pillar of light descended upon the Angel that followed orders from one not chosen by the Gods…

And struck the aura of golden light that surrounded it, the same as every spell before.

Nigun watched in stunned horror as the pillar of holy judgment pressed downward with inexorable force, only to be met with unflinching resistance from the enemy Angel.

The power of the Holy Smite scattered throughout the air, like a waterfall striking a massive stone.

And, after several long moments, the power of the attack faded, leaving the Virtue floating where it was, unharmed.

Untouched.

The smile froze on Nigun's face as he watched the impossible happen. Beside him, his men were in the same condition.

The field of battle was engulfed in utter silence.

"H-how…." Nigun finally muttered, unable to make anything but the smallest of sounds.

But he soon recovered. "How!? How can this be possible!? You are but a mere Virtue! How can you survive a spell from the Dominion of Authority! It's impossible!"

At the word 'Virtue', the enemy Angel's gaze immediately pierced Nigun once more.

"Virtue?"

Everyone in the Sunlight Scripture froze at the sound of that voice. It was just as resounding and pervasive as before, but where before it brought to mind a sunlit stream, it now made one think of a lake of ice. No human could ever sound so cold.

The enemy Angel continued. "If you want to see how I withstood that attack, then I shall be more than happy to teach you… those of you that are chosen that is."

Faster than anyone could react, the enemy Angel slammed the butt of its weapon into the ground. "[Widespread Ruin]!"

The world exploded.

That was the only way that Nigun Grid Luin could make sense of what happened.

Where the shaft of the weapon touched the ground, it exploded with unearthly force, devastating the area surrounding the Angel, leaving only itself and Gazef Stronoff untouched.

Less than a second after the first explosion went off, five more detonations ripped through the ground but inches away.

The blasts continued, following five different lines, travelling away from the Angel and toward the Sunlight Scripture in five different swathes of annihilation.

They screamed.

Nigun screamed and covered his head with his arms, as if that would make any difference.

The world was consumed in the heat of the explosion, of the force of the blast, the bits of earth sent flying from the detonations choked the air with dust, and the sound and vibration of the blasts deafened all nearby.

The chains of explosions ripped through their ranks, slaughtering all who stood.

And, finally, the roar of the explosions finally quieted. The air and ground stopped shaking. The dust began to settle.

Nigun realized that he felt no pain, despite all the screams that he and his men let out. After several moments he finally lowered his arms and looked around.

The ground was torn apart, and the air was choked with dust, but his men…

They were all still there.

The Captain of the Sunlight Scripture looked upon his sworn brothers and was amazed to see that they were all okay! And as the priests regained their senses, they came to a similarly shocked conclusion.

They were all alive, and surrounded by a glowing aura so white that it made paper look dark. The same aura of purest holiness that surrounded the Dominion of Authority.

Nigun looked around, where was he? The one behind all this trouble?

As the dust settled, Nigun quickly found him. Lucifer hadn't moved, but something had changed.

Where before he had always had that same look of boredom and disdain, now for the first time he bore an expression of surprise.

A surge of fierce pride and hope bloomed in Nigun's chest once more. 'If we can surprise him, maybe this isn't hopeless after all! We have to press the attack while we still can! We are protected by the highest of Angels, we cannot lose!'

"Ha! Are you surprise Lucifer! Behold the power of the Dominion of Authority! Your magic is useless!"

The enemy Angel quickly recovered himself, the blank expression returning. "Well, you're half right. Which touches upon the point of the lesson. The only thing that surprised me though is that you're ALL still alive. This power is supposed to be limited to protecting one party at most, all but six of you were supposed to perish in that blast."

The Angel pointed his weapon straight at Nigun "But the answer to your question is before your eyes, just as I promised. The power inherent in all Angels of sufficient power, the Protective Aura. The more powerful the Angel, the more powerful the Aura is, but it protects allies and itself by increasing defense and magic defense, in addition to nullifying magic up to a certain tier."

Nigun took a step back, surprised by the sudden explanation. This was the most the mysterious Angel had spoken since it had appeared.

"W-what are you talking about!? I've never heard of Angels having such a power!"

Lucifer's eyes narrowed in displeasure. "Then you don't know anything of Angels at all. It's one of our main powers. Starting with the Virtue, all Angels have the Protective Aura, and it only gains power as one deals with higher and higher Choirs. Virtues are immune to Fifth Tier magic and below, and that increases step by step as one deals with each increasing step in the hierarchy. A prime example is right here. This Dominion, like all Dominions, is immune to Sixth Tier spells and below, and it protected all of you from that spell I just used. Regardless of the power behind it, it was only a Sixth Tier spell and was therefore negated. Understand?"

Nigun was stunned at the revelation of Angelic lore, but Lucifer was not finished. "And that Aura only gains power as one proceeds from Dominions. Ophanim are untouchable by means of Seventh Tier magic and below, Cherubim have nothing to fear from the Eighth Tier, and of course, Seraphim like me are completely immune to spells of the Ninth Tier and below. Now do you understand the position that you're in?"

He couldn't say anything, he was too overwhelmed. The strange names and terms that were alien to him, and the hints of revelations that he had never dreamed of. They were too much for him to understand.

"Guh, hah…" He tried to make some kind of coherent statement, but he was finding it difficult. In desperation, he fell back on simple aggression. "Dominion of Authority! Do not stay your hand! Strike down this creature with your mightiest spell!"

The Dominion complied with its summoner's command, while the target of said spell gently shook his head.

[Holy Smite]

Once more the blue-white pillar descended from the heavens. And once more it shattered against the golden aura that enveloped their foe, leaving him unharmed.

That cold gaze settled on Nigun once more, filling him with primal terror. "What ARE you!? How can you possibly survive this!? It's impossible!"

Lucifer tilted his head slightly to one side. "I believe I already told you. I am a Seraph, or I suppose it's better to say that I'm something that was once a Seraph. Was I not clear?"

Nigun shook his head, desperate and confused. "There's no such thing! The Dominion is the highest rank of Angel, a power greater than humanity could ever hope to be! Why are you speaking like there's something higher!?"

The enemy Angel let out a soft sigh, and its gaze became something far more fearsome than the dispassionate disdain it held before. It held its weapon aloft before it, and pointed it straight at the Dominion of Authority. "I see, so you don't even know what a Seraph is? And you dare to summon Angels at all? Your ignorance is appalling. But rejoice, for I shall dispel your ignorance if for no other reason than for my own peace of mind."

He spoke, and his words became louder, more pervasive, more stentorian, something far more than merely human. "Of the Seraph, bedrock of the Heavens and paragon to his brothers I shall tell thee. He shall be steeped in the lore of battle and schooled in all manner of weapon, spell, and strategy. With sword, and spear, and shield, and spell, and bow shall he assail the foe. But these are mere tools: a Seraph's true weapons are his wits and his dedication to his purpose. He shall bring his foe to battle in a time and manner of his choosing, never himself caught unready or ill-prepared for the task at hand. In defense he shall be as stalwart as the mountain, a bulwark stood firm against the enemies of righteousness. In attack he shall strike with all the wrath of the Lord, felling the enemy without pity remorse or fear."

His twelve wings spread wide, casting deep shadows across the field. His eyes flashed with something unknowable as he finished. "In his hands shall he hold the fates of all who pass before his unblinking gaze. All shall fear him, and he shall fear no one!"

Lucifer's wings flapped, once.

And all the light fled from the world, like a blown out candle.

Nigun looked up in shock, and he saw the massive cascade of lights that had once made up the Dominion of Authority.

He stared at the sight, open mouthed in shock.

One flap of its wings. With one flap of its wings it fired forth a projectile of air that shattered the Dominion like glass.

In the last vestiges of the highest Angel's light, he could see the darkening sky, and the utter lack of clouds.

Where before there were gathering clouds overhead, now there was nothing but clear sky, all obstructions torn asunder by a single flap of an Angel's wings.

The remaining light drained away, leaving the battlefield in utter darkness. The only light came from the gentle Aura surrounding the one who came to Gazef Stronoff's defense. The only sound was the wind blowing across the plains.

Finally, a hoarse voice broke the silence.

"W-what are you? No, who are you? Why are you here? Why do you defend this man, this obstruction to peace? It makes no sense…."

Nigun shook his head powerlessly.

Lucifer merely shrugged. "Does it even matter? Suffice to say that I believe that this man holds value, and I am willing to defend him for that reason. You, however…. There's no escape for you. I already dealt with the divination spell that was watching you, and I also cast an anti-teleportation effect over the area. You can run, I suppose, but in the sake of fairness I'll warn you that you won't get that far. I'm afraid that you have nowhere to go."

Nigun knew that this was the end, as his subordinates fell into despair one after the other. This was an unassailable reality.

He idly noticed one thing the Angel said. His government had been watching him, and this being had disrupted it. So… nobody would ever know what had happened here. The thought filled with him with an even greater sense of failure. Not only had his mission failed, but he had failed to communicate _why._

Lucifer hefted his weapon, spear, staff, Nigun didn't know what it was. The Angel took it in both hands and rose a few inches from the ground. "Now then, I'll be honest, I've seen what I've come here to see and I have better things to do. So let's get this over with quick, okay?"

A cold wave ran through him as he realized what was about to happen.

He was filled with an incomparable fear, his subordinates saw this weakness, and it did nothing but demoralize them further. He was on the verge of tears.

Nigun wanted to get down on his knees and beg for his life, but what good would that do against an Angel? Thus, he fought against the urge to weep, and did his best to search for some way to survive. There was no hope of help coming from the outside. Therefore, his only hope was to throw himself on Lucifer's mercy.

"P-please wait a moment! Lord Lucifer, no, Master Lucifer! Please wait! We, no, I, I wish to make a deal with you! I guarantee you will not be disappointed! As long as you spare me, I'll give you any amount of money you want!"

He could see his shocked subordinates out of the corner of his eye, but he no longer cared. The thing that mattered now was his own life, everything else was of secondary importance.

If it came down to it, while it might take time, he could find more subordinates. He himself was irreplaceable.

Lucifer looked down upon Nigun for a moment. "Money, what is money?"

A cold chill ran down Nigun's spine. 'Could it be that, as a messenger of the heavens, he has no concept of money? Dammit, think!'

"Please, if money and treasure are worthless to you, then surely I can come up with something that will please you! If you desire anything else, I will do my best to meet your wishes! So I beg of you! Please spare my life!"

Nigun panted as he finished his plea.

"Please, what do you say, Master Lucifer?!"

For a moment, all was silent save for the angry cries of his subordinates.

And then something unthinkable reached Nigun's ears. Something he couldn't believe.

"Deal"

He looked up in shock, and the cries of his subordinates went silent for a moment, before their cries of anger and betrayal rose in a crescendo.

"You traitor!" "Treason!" "How dare you try to leave us behind!" "Kill him!"

Three of them grabbed Nigun as he stared at Lucifer in shock, and his heart leapt into his throat when he saw that one of them had drawn a knife.

Nigun immediately prepared to defend himself, a Silent Spell.

"[Kneel]"

And his attackers, all of his subordinates, got down on their knees and bowed until their foreheads touched the ground.

A quick, shocked glance showed that none of them could move an inch. Their cries of anguish only grew louder as they struggled in vain.

"Thank you Master Lucifer, I- wha!"

Nigun had turned to face the Angel, only to find him but inches away. He stumbled back away from him and fell to the dirt.

Lucifer, meanwhile, paid him hardly any attention; he glanced over the members of the Sunlight Scripture. "You know, I don't think this will survive the journey. I'll need something more physical. [Mass Magic: Chains of Light]."

With a calm incantation, golden, glowing chains appeared and ensnared every kneeling figure, securing arms, legs, wrists, and ankles. Even if they were freed from whatever compulsion forced them to their knees, they still would not be able to rise.

Then the Angel turned his attention to Nigun once more. "Now then, about our deal…"

Nigun immediately knelt to the ground. "Please, oh great one, spare my life and I will do whatever you wish."

Lucifer nodded. "I fully intend to hold you to that. Now then, let's see, how to make sure you're not torn apart, I need something… well I guess we could give this a try…."

The shining figure held one a hand and spoke. "[Minor Fabrication]."

In his hand appeared a piece of paper, white as snow.

Lucifer smiled at the sight. "Hey, that worked! Look…"

He turned the paper, so Nigun could see what was on the other side. Unfortunately, the text meant nothing to him. Was this the language of the Angels?

The Angel summoned a small burst of flame and incinerated the object. "Okay, now that we know that the spell can reproduce text if you keep it in mind, let's try casting that spell again. I've honestly never done this before… [Minor Fabrication]."

Again a piece of paper appeared, and Lucifer quickly glanced over it. He smiled, and incinerated it like he did the last.

"[Minor Fabrication]" He cast the spell a third time. This time, the paper was folded in half, and sealed by a blob of red wax impressed with some kind of seal.

This folded paper he gave to Nigun, who took it in trembling hands.

As Nigun looked upon the sealed letter, it could only be a letter, in his hands his greatest terror spoke. "I shall now send you and your men somewhere else. Things will come for you immediately. When they do, shout as loudly as you can that you have a missive for Neuronist Painkill from the Supreme Being Lucifer. They will take you to Neuronist. Give her that, and your needs will be seen to. You will not be harmed. I'll talk to you later to hammer out the exact terms of our compact, until then just wait patiently."

Nigun knelt down, uttering utmost thanks, but Lucifer had stopped listening.

He raised his weapon high and intoned "[Gate]"

And the entirety of the Sunlight Scripture was engulfed in darkness.

XXXXXXXXX

Lucifer took in a breath, and let it out.

"Well, that went better than expected."

He knew from the start that he would win, of course. He had analyzed every member of the enemy group before making any other move, and had carefully scouted the surroundings for any ambushes. He found that one divination spell watching Nigun, and quickly dealt with it, but aside from that the Sunlight Scripture was unguarded.

But to actually secure one's cooperation, even if that cooperation was completely under duress, he hadn't expected it to be that easy.

From his questioning of Belius, he knew who Nigun Grid Luin was. That one should prove an ample source of information on this New World.

As the wind whistled over the night shrouded plains, he glanced upwards. All that waited for him up there were the numerous stars in the sky. It was a sight he would never be able to see back on Earth. It had been a long, long time since he had actually seen stars like that, outside of a computer program like YGGDRASIL. There was no doubt that the sight was beautiful, but he didn't recognize any of the constellations, either from YGGDRASIL or Earth. It only reinforced the fact that they were far from home, and had to secure themselves from danger.

He turned his attention to the reason for all of this. Gazef Stronoff, still kneeling exactly where Lucifer left him under that 'Stasis' spell.

Lucifer floated over to the frozen warrior, idly musing about what to do next. If the spell was not countered or cancelled, the greatest warrior of the Kingdom would kneel there forever, blissfully unaware as the centuries passed him by.

But he wouldn't allow that to happen. He had healed Gazef during the battle in the hope that he would reveal information, Lucifer wanted to see more of the strange attacks he used, and the man had shown him more than the Angel had thought he would. Likewise, Gazef Stronoff was saved for a reason, and that was because he had value to Nazarick. He had a part to play.

"I have a confession to make," Lucifer murmured as he retrieved an item from his item box.

It was a necklace made of rough metal chain links, with plenty of thorns and spikes. The in the space within each link a gemstone sat, and dangling from the front was an icon made of more of the rough iron in the sigil of the departed Ulbert Alain Odle.

"Herohero and I conspired to place the most likely subordinates to rebel under surveillance, so that we could prevent any uprisings the moment they started to form. That blob was in charge of creating the items by which we would gather information, my responsibility was to ensure that the targets wore what he had prepared for them. For the most part, we were successful. All but one of our targets have already taken the bait, unaware of what the items really do. This necklace, intended for Demiurge, is the only one remaining. Which leads to my confession."

Lucifer sighed. "I do not believe I can get Demiurge to wear this."

He looked away as he continued. "All the others had their vulnerabilities, obvious paths to take to ensure compliance. Demiurge doesn't have any of those. The only thing that might work is the attachment he feels toward his creator, which Herohero took into account with this item's skin, but I don't think that will be enough. He's too smart, and unlike most of the others he has the skills to determine what a magic item does. So, in my reckoning, he is the most likely to realize what this item's true purpose is. All in all, I feel that trying to plant this on Demiurge has risks that outweigh what we stand to gain. Surveillance of his activities will have to come from other sources. In addition to this, even should Demiurge attempt rebellion he has no chance of success acting alone. For any chance of success, he would need to talk others into joining his cause, and the ones that would bring the greatest benefit to such an uprising are already being watched. Thus, I feel that the situation is not out of control, and that even without this item we need not fear revolt."

The winged man's face twisted then, like he had bitten into a lemon. "However, that does not change the fact that I proposed a plan, and took up responsibilities that I have decided to renege upon. Thus do I confess, and apologize, to myself, in your hearing."

He looked up to face the frozen warrior once more. "Which brings us to you. This item may be useless, putting it into Demiurge's hands, but I believe that we have much more to gain if it is given to you."

Lucifer cast a spell, and the skin that Herohero placed upon the item melted away, revealing its true appearance. A simple necklace of thin links made of a deep red, glossy metal.

He stared at the item, dumbfounded for a moment. "Seriously Herohero, you made this thing out of _Scarletite?_ You honestly used one of the Rainbow Metals for something like this? Gazef Stronoff, you are receiving a gift indeed. But, let's see, it needs a little extra something to make this work."

Lucifer honestly wasn't sure whether or not it would work, but he decided to try anyway. He reached up to his uppermost pair of wings, the smallest pair, and calmly pulled out a single feather.

He took a deep breath, hoping that this would work, and pressed the point of the feather into the red metal, and a smile bloomed on his face when the tip of the feather sank into the metal and was held fast.

The Angel held up the necklace with its new adornment and admired it for a moment, pleased by the unexpected success.

Everyone had their strengths and weaknesses. That was the way YGGDRASIL worked. In Lucifer's case, one of those weaknesses was the fact that he was… incompetent, to say the least, when it came to the creation of magic items.

He couldn't gather herbs, he couldn't gather ores, he could not create potions, or weapons, or armor, or accessories, or any other kind of magic item. Not to any significant degree anyway. Even spells that created things, like the 'Minor Fabrication' spell he used earlier, gave him penalties for their use.

As a result, every piece of his equipment had been created by someone else. Either something made for him by one of his guildmates following his instructions, or else something taken from a fallen enemy after he hunted them down.

About the only thing he could reliably do was change the appearance and name of an item, something that literally any Player could do to some extent. Hence how he removed the skin Herohero had created for the necklace, and placed one of his own feathers within it instead.

The item completed, he placed it over Gazef's head and let it settle around his neck.

"I made a deal with Nigun Grid Luin. Here are the terms for my deal with you. You shall grant me the most dangerous weapon of all, and in exchange I shall grant you a miracle this day. Hell, as long as you remain useful to me, I'll be your own personal guardian Angel."

With the necklace around the man's neck, Lucifer took off into the sky. From a distance, the golden glow that surrounded him looked like a comet rising into the sky.

He looked down upon the world below. He could see where the men of Gazef's unit lay slaughtered. He could see the dead of the village, stacked and lying near the tiny graveyard and awaiting burial. The villagers themselves were hiding in the forest, watching for a sign that it was safe to return.

'I wonder what they'll make of this?' he idly mused as he began casting a spell and a shimmering globe of light surrounded him. Arcane words and symbols played along the surface of the globe, their meaning unknowable as Lucifer prepared to cast a spell of the highest level.

'At first, I was worried about the possibility that we would be surrounded by peer powers, or that we would be overwhelmed by foes far greater than we are. But Nigun Grid Luin, one of the mightiest of the Slane Theocracy's agents, and Gazef Stronoff, a man renowned for his matchless might, are so meek.'

He came to the tentative surmise that the average power of this world, at least in this region, was very, very low.

'If that's truly the case, then there's nothing to fear. We only have to watch for the exceptions. And judging from what Belius told me of magic, this ought to work.'

The best way to find something was not to hunt it blindly in the dark. It was to put out bait to lure it out of the woodwork, and wait for it to respond.

And Lucifer could think of something that was certain to garner plenty of attention.

Normally a spell like this would take a certain amount of casting time, but he had no intention of standing around like a massive glowing target.

So, he activated the power of his necklace, something he could only use once a day.

The jeweled amulet shone a brilliant silver. That radiance spread and flowed into the globe of light that surrounded him, filling it with strength and causing it to shatter, activating the spell.

"Supreme Magic! [Tehiyyat Ha-Metim]!"

From where Lucifer stood in the heavens, radiance spilled down like water.

It splashed down upon the ground, spreading far and wide in an instant.

And everywhere it touched the world was engulfed in pure white flame.

XXXXXXXXX

Chief Lenix of Carne village had led his people into the Great Forest north of their village just as Gazef Stronoff had told him to. The moment the enemies to the north had moved south to pursue the Warrior-Captain, he immediately led them on their exodus, silently thanking the man for his help and hoping for his victory.

With him he took the heavy sack that the man had said held proof of the instigators behind the attack on his village.

Rather than flee deep into the forest, where they might be attacked by any monsters they came across, he told everyone to stay near the forest's edge.

If it came down to it, and the enemy was coming, they could easily flee into the forest. But until it was clear that they had to do it to survive, nobody would want to go any deeper into those woods. They all knew what lived in there.

It was a time of silence and tension, and parents trying to keep their children quiet and convince them not to be scared.

They waited, hoping for their champion to come and tell them that everything was okay.

They heard noises, they saw flashes of light, and for a time night seemed to turn into day on the far side of the village.

But, finally, everything sank into darkness and quiet.

Lenix was just considering the idea of sending someone to see what happened when a comet soared into the sky and expanded.

All the villagers of Carne burst into conversation, wondering what was happening, and what the lights meant. Those with sense tried to quiet them down, but they had little luck.

It wasn't long before something else happened. The massive bubble of light in the sky burst, spilling what looked like bright white liquid down to the earth.

There was no further warning.

The bright light spread across the ground, quick as lightning, and everything that the light touched burst into shining flames.

"Aaaaaaah!" Chief Lenix screamed as he instinctively shielded his face and crouched down. All around him he heard the screams of shock and moans of despair.

But it only lasted a moment before the flames washed over them.

He tensed, expecting burning pain, but he felt nothing.

The chief of Carne village stood, marveling at the white fires that engulfed everything around him, filling the world with light. The blaze engulfed everyone up to their waists, and they could believe what was happening no more than he could. He idly passed his hand through a tongue of flame and couldn't believe his eyes when he was unharmed.

"W-what on earth is going on?" he muttered, unable to understand what was happening.

"Look! What's that!?"

Lenix turned and saw what they were talking about.

The white flames turned night into day, everything was engulfed with light.

But high in the sky, amidst the endless brightness, a shadow could be seen.

Chief Lenix couldn't make out what it was.

All he could see was a long shape with three prongs at the head, and what looked like twelve spread wings.

The shadow hung overhead for several minutes before vanishing as though it were never there to begin with. Moments later, the flames died down and the brightness faded away, allowing night to settle once more.

The Chief of Carne Village had absolutely no idea what was happening. And one look around told him that everybody was in the same boat.

"What's going on?" "What's happening? "What was that light?" "Did Gazef Stronoff win?" "Did he lose?" "Can we go home now?" All these questions and more were repeated by the dozens of scared peasants.

"Everybody calm down!" Lenix tried to get his people to be quiet. Even at the edge of the forest they were still in danger from monsters. They shouldn't draw attention to themselves.

"Listen! I will lead a group back to the village to see what's going on, everybody else wait here until then and try to stay calm. We don't know what has happened, so keep your wits about you and be ready to run if you have to! Now, who's going back to the village with me!?"

After a few minutes the Chief had a group of five to go back to the village with him. He quickly kissed his wife and set off out of the forest, leaving Gazef Stronoff's burden with a friend that he could trust to hide it if he had to.

The walk back to the village was quiet, tense. Not so much as a sound broke through the darkness, not a single chirping cricket, not a single bird, not a single buzzing insect. It was as if the entire world had died. The only noise came from their own boots as they trampled the grass underfoot.

He tried not to show how scared he was, tried not to let the chill of the night get to him. He wasn't sure how successful he was.

The chief was hoping that any minute now they would see Gazef Stronoff stride out of the darkness to tell them that the danger had passed, but nothing so lucky actually happened.

As they continued, into the dark, into the silence, the chill and the thought of what might be waiting for them started to make him think that coming out here was a bad idea.

After all, if the enemy was in the village, there was no hope of escape.

He tried to push those thoughts aside, but every time he tried he saw in his mind's eye what happened just that morning and he began to lose his nerve.

They were close to the area that they used as a graveyard when he lost his nerve. He was about to order them all back to the forest when one of the villagers spoke. "Do you hear that?"

Lenix's eyes darted around, searching for anything that might be nearby, straining his ears for any hint of noise. "No, I don't hear anything. How about the rest of you?"

The other five quickly agreed with their chief, but the man who said he heard something didn't give up. "No, I swear I can hear something. It sounds like… crying."

Thoughts of ghosts ran through his mind, but some of his people had different ideas. "Did we leave someone behind? Chief, we have to look around. If someone got hurt and was left behind, we have to rescue them."

It didn't take long for the others to agree with the optimist, and they all looked to him for approval.

Lenix personally wanted nothing more than to return to the rest of the villagers in the forest, but he couldn't tell them no.

Reluctantly, he nodded. "If there's still someone here, let's find him immediately and return. We shouldn't linger here until we know it's safe. But stay together, don't spread out too much."

The villagers agreed and they spread out into two groups of three.

It only took a few minutes of searching around and finding nothing but more grass and rocks that he started to hear the crying himself. And a moment later he heard one of the men shouting. "Hey, over here! I found them!"

'Them?' he idly wondered as he led his group over to the voice.

They quickly reached the part of the graveyard where they were set to bury the people who died that morning, and that was when he saw something he never would have believed.

"W-what….?"

XXXXXXXXX

When Gazef awoke, 'confused' would be a mild description of his mind.

To him, it was like he had blinked and the whole work had changed.

He looked around, startled and unsure about what just happened.

It was dark, he could hardly see anything in the starlight, but he could see that the ground was horrifically torn up. It was like a great storm had passed through the area.

There was no sign of the spellcasters that had so nearly claimed his life.

There was no sign of the mysterious being that had apparently saved him.

'What… just what happened here?'

Gazef staggered to his feet, doing his best to support himself on shaky legs, and then he finally noticed the unfamiliar weight around his neck.

'What is this?' he wondered as he marveled at the item he found around his neck.

It was a necklace made from what looked like a deep red metal. It was hard to tell in the darkness, but he was certain that he had never seen anything like it before. But more importantly was the item's one adornment.

A silvery white feather was secured in the metal. It was as wide as two fingers and as long as his hand. In the light cast by the stars and the moon it practically glowed, gold highlighted the edges and made the whole thing look more like a piece of artwork than an actual feather.

He carefully held the feather in his palm, noting that while it was light, it wasn't soft at all. The entire thing was hard and rigid, like it was made of metal. He scraped the tip of the feather against his gauntlet, and marveled at the white scratch it left behind.

'What creature has feathers of gold and silver, feathers harder than steel?'

Only one thing came to mind. That radiant being that he only saw for a moment before… this… happened.

Gazef looked around once more, wondering what had happened to him, and what this all meant. But no matter how hard he thought about it, he could come up with nothing.

A few minutes of searching showed him nothing but the torn up ground. There was no sign of the Six Scriptures, there was no sign of the twelve winged man, no tracks, no sign, nothing.

Deep unease filled his heart, and his mind held nothing but questions. But, it looked like none of those questions had their answers here.

'I have to go check on the village. If the Six Scriptures went there….'

He hoped against hope that that wasn't the case, and immediately turned around and set off toward the village.

It filled Gazef's heart with joy to see that the village was still there, it hadn't been razed to the ground like all the others. More than that, lights in the windows showed that there were people there. As he got closer, trudging through the grass in the cold night, he could see that a bonfire had been started in the town square, and the shadows of numerous figures could be seen. He honestly didn't know what to make of it, to the point that he almost believed that it was an illusion.

But there was only one way to get the answers he needed, and he wouldn't turn his back on it.

His arms were cramped and aching, and his legs shook, but Gazef Stronoff would not let that stop him from moving forward.

As he got closer, he heard a peculiar sound on the air.

It took a moment to recognize it, and that only asked more questions.

'Strings?'

It sounded like a viola or a fiddle, and as he got closer he thought he could hear a drum as well.

"What on earth is going on?" he muttered to himself as he closed the distance, pushing himself to move faster despite his exhaustion. It shamed him that such a short walk, less than a mile, already had him breathing so hard and sweating so badly.

A sudden roar came from the village as he finally got close enough to be seen. A massive noise so sudden that he acted without thinking, his sword leaping into his hand as numerous people surged forth.

He managed to collect himself as he realized that the people were merely the villagers.

More than a dozen voices spoke up at once, making it impossible to make out what they were saying. He blearily looked from one face to another, stunned by just how fully of joy they were.

'How could they be so happy? Just what happened here? What happened to me?' these questions and a dozen more rose to occupy his thoughts once again.

The villagers quickly escorted him into the village square.

The entire place was lit up by a bonfire set up in the middle of the square, and off to one side he could see two villagers playing the instruments he had heard. Individuals and couples danced to the music without a care in the world, and off in another corner he spotted a barrel of win with its top opened. Everyone who wasn't dancing had a mug in hand as groups gathered together, laughing, and talking, and living.

Gazef stared at the entire scene, dumbfounded. Off to one side he spotted one young pair sneaking off into the darkness of an alley, and just over there he spotted a family of four holding one another closely, a mother, father, and two daughters. They weren't the only ones, he could see at least four other such families doing nothing but watching the dancers and listening to the music.

"Just… just what happened here…?" The mood and atmosphere were completely different than what they were before.

One of the villagers pressed a mug into his hands and leaned in close, alcohol on his breath. "It's a miracle mister swordsman! A bona fide miracle! The gods have smiled upon us this day! And to the gods we offer our thanks!" The man raised his own mug with the last words, and at least a dozen more people joined in the toast.

Gazef looked around, but he couldn't see the person he had hoped to find. He pulled aside another villager, and older man that looked more sober. "Tell me, where's the chief? What's he doing?"

The older man looked at him for a moment before cracking a smile. "Oh, Lenix? He's off at his house sleeping one off. Just leave him be, believe me he'll be feeling it in the morning. C'mon son, just sit down and enjoy the night while it lasts. We've all got a lot of work to do tomorrow, putting people's houses back together." Then he started draining his own mug of wine, seemingly forgetting that Gazef even existed.

The champion looked down at the mug in his hands, and decided that he couldn't trust it.

But before he could give it to someone else, a man shouted "Everyone! Look! The swordsman from the kingdom has returned to us! The man who drove off the mages! A toast! A toast to our savior!"

At that moment, everyone who hadn't realized he was there finally took notice of him, and that same roar from before almost knocked him to the ground, the joyous thanks of dozens of people almost driving the exhausted Gazef to his knees.

He was swarmed by the villagers. Every one of them that could still move all wanted the chance to thank him, to offer him a mug of wine from the barrel, to shake his hand, but no matter how thankful everyone was, they weren't thankful enough to give him but a moment to ask the question he was dying to ask.

"Please! Won't somebody tell me, what is this miracle that everyone is talking about!?" He finally shouted above the noise.

In response to the shouted question, things finally started to quiet down. Many of the people simply looked at him, as though confused.

"You didn't see it?" "How could he not see it? It was bright as day!" "He had to have seen it!"

Numerous questions were directed at him, and Gazef didn't know how to answer them. "Please, whatever it was, I don't know about it. So please, tell me, what is this miracle?"

The silence stretched on for a long moment before one young man finally spoke.

"We all got brought back."

Gazef looked at the young man as he left one of the village girls behind to come over and talk to him. He looked haggard, but under that tired exterior lurked a joy that infused his every movement.

"From what I've heard everyone say, this massive light engulfed the world in a sea of white fire that didn't burn. I never saw that. All I know is that this morning, three men broke down the door of my house, and when I tried to fight back they stabbed me through the chest and stomach. The next thing I knew, I felt this… incredible warmth, like the sun was calling out to me, and then I woke up in the graveyard with everyone else just in time for the mayor to find us."

The swordsman looked at the young man, dumbfounded by the story he just told. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again a moment later, unsure of what to say.

The young man just smiled. "I know, you can hardly believe it. I could hardly believe it either. But it's true." He gestured toward the crowded square. "Take a look around. Every one of us is here. There are plenty of people here who can tell you about what happened to them this morning, and about waking up in that graveyard. Go ahead and ask."

Gazef looked at the villagers in question, but he didn't ask anything. He didn't need to. He could see just from their eyes that they agreed with the young man he was speaking to.

'Is this truly an act of the gods?'

If what this young man was speaking of was true, he honestly had to wonder.

The man smiled. "That's why we're celebrating. How often can you say that you've been brought back to life by a literal miracle!? But we're not just thankful to the Gods, we're thankful to you as well. You drove off those damn priests right? Come on, join in the fun, because at this rate who knows what tomorrow will bring!"

After that, Gazef's memory was hazy. Wherever some villager bought that barrel of wine, they made some good stuff.

He could vaguely remember things in a sort of haze, after the fact. Of the tender notes of the fiddle sawed in the back of his mind and the wine on his tongue under the watchful gaze of the moon. It brought him back to the vaguely remembered days of the harvest festival back in his own village long ago when he was a boy.

When he woke up the next morning, he realized that his men had arrived at some point during the night.

After overcame his shock, he did his best to contain his emotions and asked them the same questions, and got the same answer. They too claimed to be resurrected, but they had no idea how.

These events would be carried back to the capital of the Kingdom, along with the evidence that Stronoff and his men had gathered from the fallen knights they found outside of Carne Village. There was no evidence of the Sunlight Scripture, but there was enough proof to cast a shadow of suspicion on the Slane Theocracy.

None of them had any idea just what the news they carried would lead to.

XXXXXXXXX

After casting the big spell, Lucifer looked down upon the realm below as it was engulfed in the fires of life.

From what he had learned of magic from Belius, resurrection magic was practically unheard of in this world. While it did exist, those who could use it were so rare as to be practically living legends. The man could only name one famous individual who could use it; a woman named Lakyus that he claimed lived in the Kingdom as an Adventurer. The only other source of resurrection that he knew of was held by the Theocracy. They could apparently beat back death as well, but only with large scale rituals.

So, if that was the case, what would happen when reports came from a reputable source that dozens of people had all been brought back from the void? When he had numerous witnesses that could claim that they had been brought back? When he had an unmistakable token that something had happened around his neck?

The reaction would be… telling.

Now, all they had to do was post spies around the village and wait for the inevitable truth-seekers. There would undoubtedly be agents of the real powers among them. Between those agents and the necklace around Stronoff's neck, they could start to get some real answers about what was out there.

'Not bad for something I came up with on the spur of the moment. I think it's safe to say my mission is complete.'

He gazed down at the swordsman frozen in time. "[Delay Magic: Freedom], there, that should give them some time."

The Angel set the timer on the spell to one hour, that would give the villagers time to realize what had happened and for the soldiers to find the village.

It should set up quite the miraculous picture, make a nice big impression for him to carry home.

His job done, he opened a [Portal] and returned to Nazarick.

XXXXXXXXX

Well, that's the end of the chapter, and the end of the events surrounding Carne village for now. I never imagined that this would take this long. I've spawned something of a monster here. I can only hope that everyone's okay with the fact that it took this long, because I think that in covering the events of volume one I may have created something almost as long as volume one. All I can do is hope that all of you enjoyed everything so far, and will continue to do so. Next chapter we have what I suppose would be the epilogue to the events thus far, and then move on to see what the changes have wrought.

And now, for those who don't know what has happened, this chapter piece of Overlord Lore.

OVER-RANK MAGIC

While normal magic only goes up to the Tenth Tier, these spells go beyond that. However, it acts more like a special ability or a skill than an actual spell. For starters, these beastly abilities do not cost any mana to use. Spellcasters can learn one of these spells every level after reaching level seventy. However, they can only use such a spell once per day per every ten levels after reaching level seventy. In other words, level seventy players can use these spells once a day, level eighty players can use them twice a day, level ninety players three times a day, and finally level one hundred players can cast these incredibly powerful spells a grand total of four times a day.

As mighty as these spells are however, they certainly have their fair share of weaknesses. For starters, these spells have a very noticeable activating animation and a long casting time. During this time, the caster cannot move or take any other action, making him something of a sitting duck. Should the caster suffer a certain amount of damage during this time the spell will be interrupted, and the caster will lose one of their uses per day of the spells.

In addition to this, the use of these spells has a long cooldown time. This cooldown affects not only the caster of the spell, but the entire party.

In exchange for these risks however, these spells hold extreme power. Devastatingly powerful attacks, changing the terrain of the battlefield itself, summoning incredibly powerful monsters, or astonishingly potent support, all of these and more can be accomplished with these greatest of arcane arts.

To give an example, I'll explain the details of the spell that I made up and used in this chapter.

[Tehiyyat Ha-Metim]

Upon casting, this spell casts the spell [True Resurrection] on every designated target in an entire area. That is, an area by YGGDRASIL standards which could be the entirety of a forest, or a city, or a floor of a dungeon, so this has a very large area of effect in the New World.

I took the name from a translation of the Christian Day of Resurrection, the day when all the dead will be brought to life at the end of days in order to face their face their maker on the following Day of Judgment.

[True Resurrection] is a Tenth Tier spell and is the greatest form of resurrection magic. Resurrection spells are first available at the Fifth Tier with [Raise Dead]. However, while [Raise Dead] can bring someone back from the grave, it still costs a great amount of EXP loss from the target. Not the full five levels that it would cost to respawn, but still a significant amount, say, four levels worth. The more powerful forms of resurrection cost less and less EXP loss from the victim.

This culminates in [True Resurrection], which can resurrect a target with zero EXP loss at all.

Needless to say, this spell is extremely difficult to learn. Out of the hundreds of YGGDRASIL classes, fewer than twenty of them have the capability to learn [True Resurrection]. Luci-Fer's Seraphim class is one of them. In Ainz Ooal Gown, he was the only one who could use this spell, making him an invaluable support asset.

I'll be honest, I struggled with the naming of this for a while. That is, Over-Rank Magic. It doesn't really flow off the tongue now does it? I've seen other translations, such as Super-Tier spell, which just sounds stupid in English, and Overspell, which is a little better but still doesn't quite sound right. So, in the interest of aesthetic I've gone with 'Supreme Magic' but I'm still not sure how well it turned out. If you have any better ideas feel free to let me know. Just don't say 'Ultimate Magic' or something like that. Those have already been considered and discarded.

And now, for this chapter's character sheet.

 **GAZEF STRONOFF**

 **The Strongest Warrior of the Kingdom**

 **Alignment-** 400- Great Good

 **Job-** Warrior-Captain of the Kingdom of Re-Estize

 **Residence-** Royal Capital

 **Birthday-** Mid Earth Month, 21st day

 **Hobby-** Saving Money

 **Job Level-**?

Fighter Lv.?

Mercenary Lv.?

Champion Lv.?

Others

The strongest warrior renowned far and wide in the Kingdom and in neighboring nations. His reputation precedes him far and wide among people of all nationalities. He came from a family of commoners and became a royal vassal after claiming victory in a tournament held in the Capital, defeating many powerful challengers. Ever since then he has dedicated himself to his King and his country, his loyalty and honor beyond any other's and beyond reproach. He is extremely talented with the sword, but has yet to overcome the barrier to reach the realm of 'heroes'. He has southern blood in his veins which shows in his dark eyes and hair.

Well, that just about does it. Thank you all for your patience and I hope you enjoyed everything thus far. Please, review and let me know what you think, and I'll see you all in the next chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

Here we are, chapter nine. Terribly sorry about how long this took. I don't really have much of an excuse. Life happened and this went on the backburner. On top of that, this chapter fought back pretty hard. I redid this one a couple of times trying to get it right. And on top of that new material was released.

Maybe the most annoying bit of all was the revelation that, in canon, Solution Epsilon was created by Herohero. As I said earlier, I don't intend to conform to every detail in canon, especially stuff that's newly released, so for this story this bit of information is being thoroughly ignored. Solution Epsilon was created by Luci-Fer. Although, I'll probably make use of the implications.

One of the pieces of information that I took note of from the very beginning is how the NPCs seem to mimic their creators in canon. Sure, they conform to the personality settings and profiles that were given to them, but there's a lot of information that's left out of those. When this happens, it seems that traits of the given NPC's creators get used to fill in the gaps. It was this piece of information that I used to help construct the personalities of Tigris Euphrates, Luci-Fer, and Herohero in this story. By basing the creators off of what is known about their creations, it's possible to reverse-engineer them to some extent. So when I mentioned in an earlier chapter examples of what NPCs were created by the Supreme Being OC's, in a way I gave hints about what makes them tick. Although of course not everything carries over, you have to try to figure out what's programming and what's supposed to fill in the gaps. I hope giving away this Easter egg of information, which was originally supposed to be a subtle hint, helps make up for the long wait.

A small note. Earlier I claimed that Tigris Euphrates created the Eight-Edge Assassins. I have since learned that this is incorrect, as in, not how it works precisely. The NPCs would be individuals with names, not monsters created by the players. I was under the misunderstanding that anything over level thirty had to be created by a Guild member, and anything under that was a POP spawn that automatically respawned for free. However, there is a third class of denizen. That is, mercenary monsters summoned using gold. These do not respawn and instead, upon death, they have to be re-summoned using gold. The Eight edge Assassins fall into this category, as do all other non-named creatures over level thirty. Before this I assumed that the Mercenary Monsters only lasted a certain period of time, but it seems like they're actually permanent additions to the defenses of Nazarick until they die. Hence my confusion. So I guess you can consider this a retcon on a minor detail that doesn't really matter.

With that minor matter out of the way, on with the chapter.

XXXXXXXXX

Herohero was kind of happy that he didn't have to breathe.

His new body took a lot of getting used to, in fact he still wasn't used to it, but because he didn't have to breathe nobody saw him give out an exhausted sigh at the whole situation. He just had to be careful not to project the feeling in his mind through the necklace Tigris gave him.

While the red giant was somewhere in the forest and Lucifer was spying on the village, it had fallen to him and Momonga to manage the home front.

And the first part of that was convincing everything in Nazarick to not immediately run out to find the two Guild members that were out in the thick of things.

Most of the creatures obeyed easily, and the creatures from the Eighth Floor were returned to their proper places without incident. The trick came with the Floor Guardians. Demiurge and Albedo were the most… ardent that they send out a rescue party. And Shalltear was determined to go out and find Lucifer herself.

Honestly, Herohero had been at a loss of what to say to them.

That was when Momonga took over and managed to calm them down.

The skeleton put forward the notion that they could take care of themselves, that trying to go out and help them would merely result in the Guardians getting in their way, and that the idea that either one of them needed to be rescued was disrespectful towards both of them.

It took a little while, but that line of thought finally managed to get the Guardians to stand down. Although it wasn't perfect, Herohero was still honestly impressed with their Guildmaster.

He himself had never been particularly good with people. More often than not he simply didn't know what to say, so he tried to stay quiet, act like everyone else and avoid standing out. It was one of the reasons why he ended up in computer programming. Numbers and code, orders and parameters and logic, they were so much simpler. So easy to understand.

After the creatures of Nazarick were calmed, then it came to the really hard part. The waiting.

It started off simple enough, but as time wore on it got harder. Herohero believed that it was only right and proper to have faith in his comrades. They had been through so much together, he believed that they could handle their jobs appropriately.

But the longer that he had to wait, the more that nasty sense of foreboding would worm its way into his heart.

This whole thing, most of it anyway, was his idea. Something that he just blurted out in the heat of the moment when he first thought of it. And that resulted in Lucifer going out on his own. Lucifer was strong and smart, Herohero was well aware of this, there was no reason to believe that he couldn't handle himself. But, in this strange new world, who knew what could happen….

And that didn't even take Tigris into account. The ooze had absolutely no idea what was going on there. Any messages sent to him were pretty much ignored. Every minute of waiting made him think that maybe it wasn't Tigris' choice to be so isolated, but maybe something had happened instead.

Terrible scenarios slipped into his mind about how they might have been captured, or worse. Maybe they had been forced to give up information, and enemies were coming for Nazarick right at this moment!

But nothing happened. No horde of self-righteous heroes showed up out of nowhere to kick down the door, no dragon descended from the sky. It seemed the whole world conspired to make it clear that all of the panic and preparations were for nothing.

The break in the waiting finally came when he and Momonga were informed that a large number of strangers appeared just outside of the Frozen Prison on the fifth floor. The Warden of the prison sent them both a message to inform them that the intruders were captured and handed over to Neuronist Painkill.

Of course, this series of events were still a major concern to both himself and Momonga-san. How the hell did a group of intruders show up out of nowhere on the fifth floor!? But that answer was forthcoming when Lucifer himself showed up at the gates.

The Angel smiled and greeted the pair like nothing had happened. When they asked him what was going on he admitted that he used magic to send those intruders, the Sunlight Scripture of all things, to the fifth floor, but was annoyingly adamant about not talking about what happened outside at that village. The whole point of him going out there in the first place was to find out how strong the residents of this world were by watching the battle with the Scripture and Gazef Stronoff, not to capture them! What would they do if their comrades found out about this kidnapping!?

Lucifer just kept on smiling and told them not to worry and that he would explain everything when Tigris showed up.

When Herohero and Momonga insisted on more details, Lucifer only said "I tagged a chimp and brought those idiots back to answer some questions. I promise I'll give you all the details you want later, but right now I have some things I have to do real quick." And just like that he disappeared deeper into the tomb, leaving the ooze and the Overlord alone.

After that the tension mostly deflated except for a growing worry about Tigris Euphrates, but they knew he was at least okay thanks to a 'Status' spell Momonga cast on him before he left. Momonga went to the fifth floor to find out what was going on with the intruders, and to work on a new experiment he said he thought up, but the slime decided to stay out of those proceedings. He remembered who Neuronist Painkill was and he really didn't want to get involved with anything that happened at the prison. Instead he went down to the forges on the tenth floor to get back to work on magic item production. They clearly needed more of the Message Rings if this was going to become commonplace. 'Is it really so much to ask to just have people answer my questions and not be all mysterious for no reason?'

Lucifer paid a quick trip to the fifth floor and then moved directly to the library. Herohero didn't know what he was doing and honestly didn't want to know. Trying to get answers out of Lucifer when he didn't feel like talking just wasn't worth the headache. He could wait. If it was really urgent then somebody would have said something by now, there was no point in getting impatient.

But still, as Herohero slithered around his room, he couldn't completely dispel the feeling that something might be wrong. Sure, the 'Status' spell would tell them if he got hurt, but what if it didn't work, or something else happened? No matter how much he tried to reassure himself he could never quell the unease boiling away inside of him.

Finally, after several hours Tigris Euphrates returned at last.

Immediately after getting the news he called Momonga and helped Lucifer drag the man toward the meeting room, where Momonga was already waiting. He was relieved and angry at the same time and he wanted answers.

And as soon as everyone took their seats he intended to get them as the second meeting of Ainz Ooal Gown began.

Herohero slammed a pair of tendrils onto the pristine tabletop and telepathically blasted the room "Okay, now we're all here. Would somebody PLEASE tell me what the heck has been going on all this time!?"

All three flinched at the shouting in their skulls as Tigris covered up his pointed ears. "Jeez Herohero-san, calm down. I'm sorry I didn't check in but there's no reason to be so loud."

The slime turned on the Efreet "No reason to be so loud?" He pointed a tendril at him "YOU have been ignoring everybody all day! I thought you might have died, or gotten caught, or SOMETHING!" Then he turned on Lucifer "YOU, on the other hand, have been as mysterious as hell ever since you left for that village. What the heck happened out there? You said you'd talk when everybody was together, so talk already! I am sick of being kept out of the loop and being worried sick!"

Herohero kind of slumped into his chair. "Today was supposed to be calm and collected. Tigris-san was supposed to scout out the local forest and find what was out there and then come back. Then Momonga-san went off on some adventure, and then Lucifer followed him, and nobody has told me anything except the basics. We're a Guild, one of the biggest parts of that is communication, so could somebody, please, tell me what happened?"

Tigris looked to either side, clearly curious about what Herohero is talking about. "Adventure? Would somebody mind filling me in on this? Lucifer-san said something happened… just what did I miss?"

The angel cleared his throat and gave Tigris a pointed glare. "I think it would be simpler if you go first Tigris. Just what happened out there in the forest? Our story will probably take longer so I think it's best if you got your accounting out of the way. What happened out there, and more importantly, why didn't you answer us? I have my reasons for my actions and I have no problem explaining myself, but dropping off the face of the earth like you did isn't acceptable."

Tigris looked from Herohero to Lucifer, finding neither of them too pleased with him. Then he turned to Momonga.

The Overlord looked a bit uncomfortable, but finally spoke up "I'm sorry Tigris-san, but I think they're right. Especially in times like this, we can't just ignore communications for such a long period of time."

It was weird to see an Efreeti look sheepish but Tigris somehow managed it. Finally, he bowed his massive head. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I guess I'm too used to playing alone all this time, I'm not used to working in coordinated groups anymore. It's one of the many things I have to get back into the habit of. I promise I'll never do it again so will everyone please stop glaring at me? I promise I have great news, I found a bunch of things out there."

Momonga looked over at his other two comrades. "Well… if you promise to do better, I think this can be forgiven, right guys?"

Herohero looked at his massive friend bowing his head, and he honestly couldn't find it in himself to stay angry. "Okay, but please don't do this again Tigris-san. I don't think I can take it."

"Yes, yes, I promise!"

Herohero and Momonga both looked over to the fourth member of the group. "Lucifer-san?"

The angel looked back and shrugged. "Sure, let bygones be bygones. Just don't do it again alright?"

Just like that Tigris was sitting up straight again, all smiles. "No problem, I promise! It's good to have such understanding and forgiving friends, you guys are the best!"

Momonga and Herohero sort of squirmed in their seats, unused to such praise. Lucifer interjected immediately "Yeah, yeah, we're all a bunch of saints. Now, what did you find out there, it better be good."

Tigris settled back into his chair. "Alright, things started off boring and they stayed that way for most of the day. There are plenty of monsters in that forest, mostly beasts and demi-humans. Large bears, tigers, ogres, trolls, lots of goblins, and a few magical beasts like Barghests and Manticores. Oh, and one Dryad. In terms of gatherable items there was nothing special, some herbs and a few minerals in more hilly areas of the forest, but they're things like mint and rosemary, iron, and copper. Worthless."

"Well… that's disappointing."

Momonga and Lucifer clearly agreed.

"Wait, wait, it gets better. So, I talked it over with this goblin chief and found out that there are three major powers in this forest. Something he called the Giant of the East, the Serpent of the West, and the Beast of the South. And then he talked some mumbo-jumbo about a legendary monster up in the north. Of course, I investigated. I sent Aura, Mare, and the Pleiades to find the other three while I went to find the thing in the north. That's the one closest to Nazarick's location, so I figured I should handle it."

"Wait a second Tigris-san." Momonga interjected. "What would have happened if Aura and the others found the Beast of the South and the others and they were really strong? You have to watch out for them, not send them into needless danger."

The giant put his hands up. "Relax Momonga-san, I told them to just scout it out. Find out what they were, where they hang out, and how strong they were. I told them specifically not to engage them and just scout things out. Just in case they were really strong. Long story short, they found all three and they're weak as hell. That leads into a proposal I'll make later but for now let me continue my story."

He cleared his throat and continued, gesturing all the while. "Okay, so there I was tromping through the northern forest. I had no idea what the hell I was looking for except that this thing was big and hungry. By this point all the little critters had figured out that I was not to be fucked with and left me well alone. And lo and behold should I find this dryad in this clearing and she just happened to know where this thing was. She called it Zy'tl Q'ae and after a bit of convincing showed me where to find it. It was in this big clearing full of dead trees. So, I woke it up, fought it, and beat it."

Lucifer raised a single eyebrow. "That's it?"

"Well, no. I hurt it real bad, stole all of its items that I could steal, and then froze it with 'Stasis', so we can probably use it for something else later. It was this big old tree monster like you'd see in the old days of YGGDRASIL, but it wasn't exactly like any monster that I've ever seen before so I don't know if it's a YGGDRASIL monster that came over like us or if it's something native. According to the dryad, I can't remember her name, sorry, that thing had been sleeping there for centuries. But get this; it was WAY stronger than anything else in that forest. Everything else was like, level ten or something, but this thing was around level eighty to eighty five. I'm sure we can use that somehow!"

'Level eighty five?' Herohero was a bit dismayed at the number. If they found monsters that strong so soon, what would they find when they looked further out?

Momonga jumped in. "If this thing was level eighty five, then it's a good thing we found it when we did. But you said you stole all of its items right, did you get anything useful?"

Tigris reached into his item box and pulled out a clump of green material the size of a person. "Just this. It's some kind of herb; the dryad I met said it can heal any disease or poison. Check it out Herohero-san." He put the lump of moss onto the table and rolled it toward the slime.

Herohero stopped the moss ball with a tendril and immediately started analyzing it. He only had a few levels that dealt with herbs and plants but those were enough to let him get an idea of what it was worth.

"Yeah, the dryad I met said it could cure any poison or disease. Is it true?"

As a Thief, Tigris could get a rough estimate of an item's value, but it was only really effective on manufactured goods. It was a lot vaguer when it came to plants and herbs and raw materials. And even then, he had no idea what a material could do. Such an estimate would have to come from someone with more appropriate classes.

Herohero's main area of expertise was with metals, minerals, and gemstones rather than herbs and the like, but his levels in crafting classes, together with his overall total level gave him a pretty good idea of what he was working with.

"According to what I can find, this material is known as 'Forest's Mercy' and from what I can see it definitely has potent curative properties. It can't cure any poison or disease, but it can definitely save someone from a poison or disease that comes from a something less than level ninety. It might do other things, but I honestly can't tell. Overall, this is a pretty good find, but it's not of much use to level one hundred characters who regularly deal with monsters higher than level ninety, or to anything that's completely immune to disease and poison anyway."

In other words, nobody in this room would benefit from it.

Lucifer spoke up first. "Shred it?"

Tigris crossed his arms and frowned up at the air. "Shred it? Oooh, you mean toss it in the Exchange Box. Well, if there's nothing we can use it for… I don't see why not. Might as well take the gold. What do you guys think?"

Momonga shook his head. "I don't think we should. This is something that we never found in YGGDRASIL, and there's no guarantee we'll ever get any more. Wouldn't it be better to keep it just in case we need it? There are easier ways to get money."

Lucifer shrugged. "Makes sense. I honestly don't care either way. Tigris?"

Tigris leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. "I don't care what we do with it. Shred it, maybe we can use it to trade with people in this world? As long as it's put to the greatest use I'm fine with whatever. Momonga-san is wrong about one thing though. I didn't kill the tree, I just froze it. So we can let it loose and feed it to eventually get more of this stuff if we really need to. So it isn't exactly irreplaceable. It might be worth shredding some of it just to get a solid idea of its value."

Herohero absorbed the material into his own item box. "I think we should keep it for now. There's no need to decide what to do with it at the moment, and I don't think we're hurting for money. I say we wait and see. All in favor?"

"Aye"

"Aye"

"Whatever"

The slime nodded as best he could. "Okay, motion passed."

Tigris snapped his fingers. "Speaking of motions, I have one to propose myself. Okay, so I mentioned earlier about those three monsters that are in charge of the forest? Well, the NPC's found them and they're weak as hell. All three of them are around level thirty. So I was thinking we'd round them up and take over. Slap them around a bit so they know who's in charge and we can guarantee that nobody comes through the forest without us knowing in advance. What do you think guys?"

Momonga looked nervous about the idea. "I don't really mind taking over, but I'm worried about making enemies out of powerful natives of this world. We have to avoid making powerful enemies until we know where we stand. Granted, we seem to be pretty powerful, but you know what they say about bigger fish. I don't think we should risk endangering Nazarick for something like that.

Herohero wasn't sure about the idea. It sounded good, but there was the potential for backlash.

Lucifer chimed in. "I like it. And while admittedly there's a bit of a risk, I think it's smaller than what you're making it out to be Momonga. Between the four of us, the NPC's, and in the worst case scenario the World Items, I think we're in a pretty good position. And even if that's not enough, I doubt we'd be in such a bad position that any given enemy wouldn't rather negotiate than take us on. I say we go with Tigris' idea. And if you're really worried about Nazarick being in danger, then why don't we leave the name of Nazarick out of it?"

The ooze looked over. "What do you mean Lucifer-san?"

The angel quickly responded "Simple, we have one of the NPC's do all the work and leave us out of it. Aura would probably be the best bet. Have her go around to these three monsters and make it clear who's boss. Tell her to take over, but to do so in her own name. She'll still be loyal to Nazarick of course, but to anyone else looking in she'd be her own boss following her own desires. Nobody outside of Nazarick needs to know that the new queen of the forest is anything but an ambitious and powerful young dark elf. If it turns out to be a bad idea, we can 'defeat' the tyrant and claim to be the good guys as we take her in as a 'new subordinate'."

He gave a wide smile. "It's all smoke and mirrors, but it clears us of suspicion as long as we can keep the secret, while putting us in position to reap any benefits if there turn out to be no real challengers. Does that make you feel better Momonga?"

The skeleton frowned… somehow. "It's better, but if we go that route we might not be able to use Aura for anything else. She'd have to be there all the time to stay in control. Wouldn't that be dangerous, courting rebellion like that?"

It was a decent thought, but Herohero thought otherwise. "Not necessarily Momonga-san. It should be enough for her to appoint some beast to handle things while she isn't there. All she has to do is have a reputation of going to other places on a whim, maybe to scout out new conquests, and nothing in there should question anything. Then they'll just be scared of what will happen if they rebel and Aura comes back. They may be beasts, but they're not stupid. Supposing Aura does a proper job when she takes over, they won't want to cross her again."

Tigris gave a big, toothy smile. "I think that's three in agreement Momonga-san, unless you can come up with a really good reason why we shouldn't."

Momonga hemmed and hawed and went over things in his mind.

Finally, he spoke "I… suppose there's nothing wrong with it. I'm just worried about attracting the wrong kind of attention, you know? Our top priority is to find out about the powerful beings in this world and make sure that we aren't ambushed by them. That would be disastrous."

Lucifer nodded. "It's perfectly understandable, you're anxious. But I hope I'll be able to put some of that anxiety to rest. With that said, all in favor of Tigris' plan to conquer the forest, say aye."

Four cries of 'Aye' rang out through the hall.

"Motion carried. Is that the end of your report Tigris?"

"Yup"

"Okay, then I'll get on with my side of things. Now, it all started when Momonga decided to go cowboy when he spotted this village in trouble with his spying…."

Lucifer's report was succinct and to the point, and explained in exacting detail his findings.

In summary, both the Sunlight Scripture and Gazef Stronoff were weak enough to be insignificant. Between both groups they only had one item that was actually worth any kind of notice, the Sealing Crystal used to summon the Dominion of Authority, but even that wasn't anything really special.

He explained how he interfered in the battle to allow Gazef Stronoff to fight to his fullest and sculpted perception to appear as something he wasn't to the man in the time before he was frozen in time.

It was made clear exactly why he captured the Sunlight Scripture and delivered them to the fifth floor, and why he arranged… special accommodations… for Nigun Grid Luin himself.

Herohero chimed in "I don't want to know."

Lucifer shrugged. "Then I won't go into any further detail on that point. Speaking of which, after this is over I'll need your help on something Tigris."

"Sure"

The real shock was when he revealed that he had used Supreme Magic to resurrect everyone in the village that had died, as well as Gazef Stronoff's soldiers.

"What?!" Momonga jumped from his seat. "I thought you told me resurrection magic is really rare in this world according to that knight captain?"

Lucifer looked over and regarded him coolly. "Yes I did, which is precisely the point."

"But won't this attract all kinds of attention?"

"That's exactly what I'm hoping for with this Momonga."

Their Guildmaster looked puzzled. "What do you mean, shouldn't we be avoiding attention?"

The angel nodded "Yes, and it's not like anyone in that village knows where Nazarick is. But as you said yourself the most important thing is finding information on the people or things that are really in charge of this world. Rather than groping around for information in the dark, the best way to find information is to question people who know things, and the best way to hunt something down is to lay out some bait."

Herohero caught on. "You mean to put spies around that village and grab people that show up to find the truth."

Lucifer pointed at the slime. "Exactly! According to captain Belius there are only two sources of resurrection magic in this world. The first is the Slane Theocracy and their most powerful rituals. The second is a woman named Lakyus who works as an Adventurer in the Kingdom. And nobody has anything like mass resurrection. Of course this is assuming there's nothing he doesn't know about, but there's no harm in assuming he's correct on this point. When news of this gets out, there will be some doubt, sure, but once that doubt is dispelled this will make a splash like nothing else. Nobody will be able to ignore it. Everybody worth a damn will come to find out what happened, or send someone to do so. By monitoring the village we should eventually find someone that knows something important."

He smiled, showing a bit of teeth for the first time. "And then we'll be on the trail to figuring out some real secrets. On top of that, there's no risk of us being found out. It's not like I introduced myself to the villagers. At best any investigations will reveal that they were resurrected by a mysterious figure, but nothing more than that. So at this point we just have to plant some spies and wait for Gazef Stronoff and his men to spread the good word."

It sounded nice, but there was something missing in that story. "Lucifer-san, what about Gazef Stronoff's men. You resurrected them too right? Do you mean to have a spy follow every one of them too? Those guys were resurrected as well, so it will probably be those guys who are approached and questioned rather than the villagers right? Especially if they're going back to their capital."

The angel didn't seem worried in the least. "That's why I took the liberty of planting a bug. You guys remember our earlier project to spy on particularly dangerous NPC's right?"

How could they forget?

"Well, I took advantage of an opportunity at the expense of that plan. I removed the skin of the item intended for Demiurge, altered it a bit, and planted it on Gazef Stronoff."

Herohero surged up at that comment. "Hey, I worked hard on that thing!"

"Oh, hush you. It's for a good cause."

"Wait…" Momonga started "So you put an item that lets us see what the wearer sees and hear what the wearer hears…."

"On the king's personal bodyguard and confidant, yes." Lucifer smiled even wider, revealing teeth that were like nothing human. "From everything we've heard, this guy is that Kingdom's trump card, their ace in the hole, and quite important. If this turns out to be false, this necklace will let us know. If it turns out to be true, then we can satisfy ourselves on the point that human society is nothing to be scared of. If that guy is the best they got, which seems to be the publically accepted story, then the nearby nations are all complete pushovers. To say nothing of everything else we'll learn just from observing this guy's daily life in the capital and the reactions he'll see firsthand when he makes his report and shows his proof. That will be educational to watch, don't you think?"

A spy on the inside of an enemy force was invaluable. If it worked as expected, this was a major victory for them, possibly greater than anything else. Herohero couldn't contain himself. "Nice job Lucifer-san!"

Tigris let out a shrill whistle and started clapping, the sounds reverberating through the room.

The angel shot him a glare. "Yeah, yeah, knock it off. Anyway, that about sums it up on my end."

"One question, Lucifer-san." Everybody turned to Momonga. "That item was intended for Demiurge right? What will you do about that hole in the surveillance?"

Lucifer shrugged. "I don't really intend to do anything. I don't think he's a threat. Now hear me out!" He blurted as everyone started to talk at once. "Demiurge is smart, but he's not exactly the toughest of the Floor Guardians. There are three people in this room who could kick his ass alone, sorry Hero."

The slime shrugged "No offense taken." It was probably true.

"Right, and even with all the forces of the seventh floor, he's no match for everything else in Nazarick. He's smart enough to know this. So even if Demiurge does plot rebellion, at some point he'll realize he needs help. And to get that help he'll have to approach somebody that we HAVE successfully bugged and that will give us the opportunity to stomp on the sparks of revolution before they get out of hand. So I don't think there's any reason to come up with a new item and maybe make him suspicious of what we're up to. That guy is one of the few Guardians who can analyze the effects of items anyway, so we're better off not risking him figuring out the trick. Okay?"

Herohero was perfectly fine with it. His fears regarding the NPC's were being gradually laid to rest anyway, and the other two agreed.

Their winged companion gestured toward Momonga. "Okay, that's the end of my side of things. I think you mentioned earlier that you've figured some things out Momonga?"

"Yes!" Momonga stood up to address his fellow Guildmates, visibly excited. "I learned a few things during my brief visit to that village. The most second most important one is that the coins of YGGDRASIL hold value here. We can roughly estimate that a coin from YGGDRASIL is worth two of the locally minted gold coins. But while that's good to know it's not as important as this." He spread his arms wide "I have discovered a means to make summoned monsters permanent!"

All three of them sat rigid in their seats.

Herohero immediately understood the implications. If what Momonga was saying was true… then that was beyond huge.

Tigris was the first to ask. "How?"

Their Guildmaster looked pleased with himself as he started. "While in the village, I attempted to summon a Death Knight while near a corpse. Instead of appearing next to me and staying near me at all times, the Death Knight was created from the dead body and immediately followed my orders, even though that meant leaving my presence. Something that could never happen in YGGDRASIL. Later, I took the Death Knight with me when I returned to Nazarick."

He learned forward and put his hands on the table. "That Death Knight is still here, over in my room, when he should have despawned ages ago. I ran a few experiments summoning Undead normally, and they all vanish after the appropriate amount of time, but not him. I also tried giving one of the Death Knights a sword taken from those fake knights, but that didn't change anything. When time was up, the Death Knight vanished but the sword remains. So!" He swept out his arms in a grandiose gesture "As long as we have corpses, I can create an infinite army of the Undead to strengthen Nazarick!"

"Incredible Momonga-san!" Herohero was overjoyed with the news. If that was the case, then they could increase the strength of Nazarick dramatically and at practically no cost! The Undead didn't cost anything to maintain either, so there were practically no downsides except the question of gathering the bodies needed.

"Wait, that reminds me." Lucifer spoke up. "I summoned that Gilded Devil, remember? I found it again later when I went back to the village. The thing apparently got into a fight with Gazef Stronoff and got killed."

Tigris looked over. "Wow, really? I thought you said the guy wasn't that strong, how'd he manage that?"

Lucifer could summon Demons and Devils thanks to a few of his classes, namely 'Prince of Darkness' and 'Lord of the Fallen'. He couldn't summon as many demons as Momonga could summon Undead, but they were made stronger than they usually were at the cost of options. Lucifer could only summon things that were close to his own alignment, but they were stronger because of that.

If this Gazef Stronoff killed one of them, maybe he was stronger than Lucifer led on?

The angel shrugged "I don't know exactly how he did it, but he's somewhere between level twenty five and twenty nine, probably level twenty nine exactly. A Gilded Devil is a level thirty five monster, but it isn't exactly famous for its physical attributes even if it is boosted by my skills. He didn't look like he was in the best of shape afterwards. The important thing though is that the Devil left a corpse behind, and Gazef Stronoff looted the thing before he retreated to the village. Do you guys see what I'm getting at?"

Momonga looked over, his eyes bright. "If permanent monsters drop loot when they're killed, could we farm them?"

Tigris was smiling from ear to ear "He can summon Gilded Devils, those things are famous for the amount of treasure they drop compared to other monsters of similar level. Infinite cash exploit GO!"

Herohero's laughter rang through their minds as he reveled in the possibilities. Infinite money? That was a dream come true, especially in this New World where they couldn't get YGGDRASIL coins normally.

Lucifer was smiling as much as Tigris "I'll need to experiment more with this, and you need to figure things out too Momonga. Is it only Death Knights? Can you summon more powerful Undead and make them permanent too? Actually, can you make an Ecorche?"

An Ecorche was a powerful Undead creature, its level was somewhere in the eighties, Herohero remembered. More importantly than that though, it had potent shapeshifting abilities.

Momonga was visibly excited. "I don't know, but we can try. If I can make a permanent Ecorche then we'll have no shortage of information coming in. I'll get to work on that immediately."

Lucifer nodded "Here's another thought. I apparently need living sacrifices to summon permanent things. Can you use the bodies of the sacrifices I use to summon Devils to summon more Undead after I'm done? If you can we can get two creatures from a single person."

Herohero was kind of taken aback by the sudden turn of conversation, and he and Tigris were relegated to the sidelines as they watched the pair of them trade ideas, coming up with the best ways to min-max this new discovery and take full advantage of this new ability they found within themselves.

It was kind of surprising to him. These two… weren't famous for getting along. But now they seemed as friendly as anyone else as they came up with more ideas for experimentation and things to try out.

The weirdest thing of all, to Herohero, was that the two of them were talking about sacrificing people to summon Devils and using corpses to summon the Undead, and neither of them seemed to care about the implications involved. Where they would get the people, and where they would get the bodies.

Even weirder though, was that Herohero couldn't bring himself to care about things like that either. Fear, anger, indignation, empathy, when he thought about the people involved he couldn't bring himself to feel any of those things on their behalf.

All it did was make him hungrier.

The meeting was concluded soon after that, after Momonga delivered a few more observations. The biggest one was that he had confessed to Albedo the fact that he had tampered with her settings and that her feelings weren't her own. And Albedo didn't care. She was perfectly fine with the way she was and had no desire to return to what she was before.

He then proposed the idea that the other members of their Guild might be out there somewhere and that they should try to find them. Honestly, Herohero was pretty skeptical about that idea, and from what he could see the other two didn't really believe it either, but none of them had the heart to tell Momonga it was probably hopeless. They agreed to his idea to seek them out if they could be found. The slime figured it was probably for the best if their Guildmaster believed it was possible.

Lucifer promised to write up documentation on his finding so far from his questioning of Belius, and promised to make them aware of anything new that he found out from his investigations in that area.

Tigris would brief Aura of their plan to conquer the forest and make in the new frontline defense for the Great Tomb of Nazarick as he himself prepared further expeditions to the west and north.

Momonga would continue his experiments with summoning and other magic.

And he himself would continue experimenting with his ability to create magic items, to find out what he could and could not do.

The four separated in good cheer as they went about their tasks, but Herohero made his way toward the kitchens.

It had been a long day. He seriously needed something to eat.

XXXXXXXXX

It had been several days since Nigun Grid Luin had been captured, and still he could not free himself of the fear he felt when he was confronted with the impossible. The Dominion of Authority, the mightiest of Angels, slain. It was impossible.

But he had somehow made it out of that madness alive.

Just as Lucifer had promised, he had been teleported to another place along with his men. To some place of ultimate cold where he and his men were swiftly captured. Just as he had been told, he shouted at the top of his lungs that he had a message to Neuronist Painkill from the Supreme Being Lucifer.

The things that came for him were skeptical, but he showed them the letter and they believed. They took him to see the recipient of the letter.

And the less he thought about that fat, octopoid _thing_ the better he would feel. The way it looked at him with naked hunger still chilled his heart.

It read the letter, and declared in a hoarse voice that otherwise defied description that if a Supreme Being had ordered it then it would be so. And then the captain of the Sunlight Scripture had been taken elsewhere, marched through the cold and the wind to a place that looked like a massive dome of ice and snow where he was conducted deep into the earth and down a massive winding stairway that led to a FOREST of all things.

Through the forest and into a massive coliseum like the one found in the Baharuth Empire, he was urged to step through a mirror in the coliseum's depths and found himself in a hell of blazing flame. He did his best to forget about what he saw there as he was led through the inferno and into what looked like a destroyed temple. A grand staircase deep within led to a set of doors that led him to his final destination.

Then he was conducted into a room and here he had been ever since.

The room couldn't be properly called a room, it was a grand suite. It had its own kitchen, bathroom, several guest rooms, a main hall, all decorated with the most lavish and perfect artistry he had ever seen and filled with plush and tasteful furniture. It was better than what he had at home. Hell, it was better than the chambers of the Cardinal of Light.

Under different circumstances, he'd be perfectly happy with his accommodations.

Under these particular circumstances, he was terrified and rightly so.

When he was first left alone here he had marveled at the furnishings and designs, but he could find no rest. The bed in the main bedroom was soft and flawless, but it could not relieve him of the terrors that stalked his mind. Still, he was eventually lulled to sleep by his own exhaustion.

Then he woke up the next morning as though nothing had happened, but he immediately noticed the difference.

Rather than the uniform of the Sunlight Scripture, he was dressed in a plain robe. All of his possessions and equipment were gone without a trace. Who had changed him without him waking or noticing, and where had his belongings gone?

He searched the room and found a scrumptious breakfast on the table in the main room but no answers.

Once and only once did he try the door. It opened without resistance, but outside he found a pair of skeletons in immaculate golden armor.

He quickly shut the door.

Since then the only contact he had was when a maid came with his meals. It was a different one every day. The maid walked in, set his breakfast on the table, and then spent the next several hours scouring the room, making beds that were left untouched, and ensuring that not a single speck of dust or dirt remained anywhere. Then she took the dishes with her on the way out. Practically the same thing happened at dinner except the maid left immediately. The dinner dishes were taken with the breakfast dishes when the maid left.

He once considered cooking for himself, but the kitchen was like nothing he had ever seen before and the pantry was bare.

Nigun Grid Luin was left alone with nothing but his thoughts. Even when a maid was here they utterly ignored him.

He thought about grabbing one and demanding information, but he reasoned that it wouldn't end well for him. For all he knew the maids could be stronger than he was, and she could easily call for help from the sentries outside.

He had no idea what was going to happen next and he was deeply worried about what fate had in store. He spent most of his time in fervent prayer. It was the only thing that really helped. His fate was in the hands of god, and his god had never failed him before. That thought gave him solace.

Then, one day, without warning the silence was broken. The maid had already left for the day and he was whiling away his time trying to teach himself to play the piano in the main room when the door suddenly opened.

Nigun's heart almost thudded out of his chest when the monster that started this whole mess walked in. Lucifer.

The monstrosity looked over at him sitting at the piano for a moment. "Teaching yourself to play? Good, no man should ignore his cultural side. I'm sorry to disturb you, but we have some business to go over. Could you please take a seat?" The angel pulled up a chair for him at the table and quickly sat down himself.

Nigun hurried over, trying not to look as nervous as he felt. Lucifer looked unhurried as he pulled out a stack of parchments from somewhere and straightened them on the table before him.

The captain of one of the six scriptures sat down where he was indicated. The table was something fit for a banquet and sat twelve, Lucifer sat at the head, or foot depending on how you looked at things, while Nigun sat to his immediate right and did his best not to fidget or project weakness. 'I must be dignified; I am representing the Slane Theocracy and the gods themselves. I must not be seen to be lacking.'

The dogma honestly helped to calm him down. His god would not allow him to fall here. They would see him through.

"Now then," the angel started off "it has been a while since we last spoke, but I believe you remember quite clearly what was said. You begged me, and I quote 'Please, oh great one, spare my life and I will do whatever you wish', and before that you said 'Please, if money and treasure are worthless to you, then surely I can come up with something to please you. If you desire anything else I will do my best to meet your wishes. So I beg of you! Please spare my life!' end quote."

Nigun remembered what was said. What truly disturbed him was how the angel said it. When he was quoted, Lucifer intoned the words the exact same tone and pitch that he himself used. The voice was different, but the words were identical. It was eerie.

Lucifer continued on "It took some time to gather materials and get things ready, but I am prepared to cash in on my part of the bargain. Your life has been spared and, as I promised, you have come to no harm. I gave explicit orders to the staff to ensure that your needs were met. That's all well and good for an informal, verbal agreement, but now I believe that we need a more formal pact between us as we move forward. Something that makes it clear what expectations both parties are expected to abide by, what rewards may be earned by both parties, restrictions that both parties will respect, and reprisals that await should either of us fail to uphold our end of the bargain."

"So, to that end, I have taken the liberty of drafting some documentation. A contract, in simpler terms." The figure before him laid the sheaf of parchments flat on the table. Nigun saw immediately that it was all in red ink of a disturbingly familiar shade and in no language that he had ever heard of.

"A… a contract….?" Nigun immediately jumped to the worst possible conclusions. Who wouldn't?

The being before him smiled. "I understand you're apprehensive. You've heard the stories- someone like you, someone like me, and a stack of pages that turns out to be a bear trap in disguise. I won't tell you those stories are all lies, but no one writes an epic about a deal gone right. Partnerships like this are never as complicated as what you've heard from poets and anxious priests. You want what you want, I want what I want, and just so everything's tidy, we write it all out. What could be more aboveboard than that?"

"But you're worried, I know. So here's the contract. Read it over. Be clear, be certain, and when you're ready, make your mark."

The winged man slid the stack of pages over in front of him. "Take all the time you need. I'm happy to wait."

Nigun looked at the pages before him and had no idea what any of it said. "I'm sorry, but I cannot read this."

Lucifer arched an eyebrow. "Oh? That's interesting. I understand that the people of this world can understand and speak all languages, but it seems that the same does not apply when it comes to written languages. Tell me, how many languages do you read and write?"

He swallowed and answered. "I can read and write the languages of the Kingdom, the Empire, the Theocracy, the Karnassus City-State Alliance to the northeast of the Empire, and of the human nations to the south of the Theocracy. Technically you can toss in the language of the Holy Kingdom of Roble as well, but they use the Theocracy's language, and the Draconic Kingdom uses the language of the Baharuth Empire."

"I see. I'll have to add all of that to the curriculum. But that's fine, I can help you out. Here," Lucifer reached out and touched Nigun's wrist. "[Comprehend Language]."

Nigun held his breath as he felt magic flow through him and the symbols on the page before him shifted and changed into characters that he could read.

"T-thank you, Master Lucifer" he hated himself for the stutter.

"Not a problem, I want everything as clear and neat as it can be."

The theocracy agent took up the first page and started reading aloud.

"PRIME MATERIAL, Being the THIRD Incarnation of the FOURTH Cycle of Mortality, on file in Ashurbanipal 2:458:82:5:16. This is a lawful contract between NIGUN, baptismal name GRID, of the family of LUIN, honored Captain of the Sunlight Scripture of the nation known as the Slane Theocracy which can be found to the South of the Kingdom of Re-Estize and the Wall of Heaven Mountains, to the North of the Pabilsag Desert, to the East of the unclaimed badlands East of the Holy Kingdom of Roble, and West of the Draconic Kingdom and the Sapphire Lake, below Heaven, and Above Hell, henceforth known as the Petitioner, and LUCIFER, of the Forty One Supreme Beings of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Mastermind of the Eighth Floor, and Scourge of Asgard, henceforth known as the Broker, their names to be used for this Pact only."

The material and syntax got more dense and opaque from there.

It went into exacting detail of Nigun's person and what behavior was to be expected from him. It specified that he would be allowed this room on what he now learned was the ninth floor and that he would be allowed to roam free on this floor so long as he did not enter uninvited the private domains of others and would be free to use any and all public facilities to be found on that floor, that he would be guaranteed meals of a certain level of quality a certain number of times a day. He was forbidden from heading up toward the eighth floor or any other higher floor and forbidden from travelling down to the tenth floor or to the treasury.

In exchange for these gifts it was made clear he would be expected to instruct a person of Lucifer's choosing for a minimum number of hours a day on any subject of the person's choice. He was forbidden from telling any lies during this instruction. Any falsehoods spoken would be taken as a breach of contract. He was likewise forbidden from attempting to harm any of the denizens of Nazarick. There were plenty of ways for the contract to be breached and in the event of a breach of contract the punishment was quite clear. All privileges and rights would be revoked and he would join his men in the Frozen Prison on the fifth floor.

It was further specified that once the agent chosen by Lucifer decided that the education was complete, he was obligated to complete a single task on Lucifer's behalf, the task itself left open-ended. The task could be granted earlier, but it must be specifically noted as being the task that pertains to the contract. This task must be fulfilled to the best of Nigun's abilities.

He could hardly believe what he saw in the next paragraph.

"You'll let me go!?"

The angel opened his eyes from the sudden shout. Before that he almost looked like he was napping. "What?"

"It says right here that in the event of the completion to the agent's satisfaction of the provided education and in completion of the previously mentioned task to the satisfaction of Lucifer that the Petitioner will be allowed to depart from the Great Tomb of Nazarick and return to his country of origin with all possessions returned without damage, defacement, or sabotage and without fear of reprisal from the Broker, that's you, or any of his subordinates." Nigun looked up. "You'll just let me go?"

Lucifer closed his eyes again. "Sure. If you read a bit further down you'll see the part where it's promised that in the event that you're set free we won't alter your memories of what happened. You'll be free to return to the Slane Theocracy without any fear of me or anyone who obeys me hunting you down and we won't stop you from telling anyone what happened here or what you've seen and learned."

That sounded WAY too good to be true. There had to be a catch.

Nigun read on, but it wasn't much longer before he reached the half way point and realized that the text on the next page was a mirror of the first.

"Oh, there are two contracts. One for you and one for me. So that page in your hands is the last one."

He glanced at the angel and read the last page in his hands. It was half the length of the others, leaving plenty of blank space and detailed that the death of either party would not result in the voiding of the contract and that in the result of accidental death that was no fault of his own Nigun would be resurrected and awarded an unspecified compensation of no less than one thousand golden coins of value by means of apology.

Then he got to the last few lines.

"Subject to the veto of the Forty One, Honor to their Names. Signed in Blood and Bound by Soul."

He glanced over toward Lucifer. "What do those last two sentences mean?"

The angel didn't even open his eyes. "If the Forty One Supreme Beings agree unanimously that we refuse to honor this contract the whole thing is voided. But most of us aren't in attendance here in Nazarick so there's no chance of that happening. It's just boilerplate. As for the last sentence, it must be signed in blood and your soul is mine should you be found to be in violation of the contract. It's also mentioned above in the section detailing reprisals, you just didn't realize the implication where it mentioned what would happen to you in the Frozen Prison. All you have to do is not break the contract and you don't have to worry about it."

Nigun set the stack of pages aside and collected his thoughts. "There are parts of this I don't like."

Lucifer opened his eyes then. "Oh? Go on."

He looked the angel right in the eye and didn't flinch away. His god and his nation demanded that he be strong. "That part about the veto at the end. On top of that, it says that I'm to educate someone of your choosing until they're satisfied and I have to complete some unspecified task before I'm set free. That's too ambiguous. You could make the task impossible or your agent could simply never say that they're satisfied, or all of your friends could show up and you could void the contract once I've done my part. There are way too many ways for you to screw me over in this. I would like some more definite conditions and for that part about the veto to be removed."

The winged figure smiled. "Well, I suppose I can do something about the veto. As for the other parts, I think you're a bit bold for demanding that you do less work but I'm a nice guy. What do you have in mind?"

'This is way too easy.' "I'd like a time limit for the span of the education, say a year, and for the exact terms of the task to be determined now."

Lucifer shook his head. "That's not going to happen. Let's say five years and I'll promise the task doesn't take you out of the ninth floor of Nazarick."

"A year and a half and your guarantee that what you order me to do won't involve combat against anything under the banner of Nazarick."

"Make that two years of service as an educator and you have yourself a deal."

Nigun thought it over furiously. Was there any other way for Lucifer to screw him over? "You promise that the task will not involve combat against anything belonging to Nazarick? Not against your or your friends or any of your subordinates?"

Lucifer nodded, his smile showing no teeth but wider than it was before.

Two years was a long time. A lot could change by then and it was important that he get back quickly. But, on the other hand, two years would give him plenty of time to learn the inner workings of this place and make him able to deliver information that would change the face of any conflict between Nazarick and his country.

After several long minutes Nigun finally responded. "Okay, two years, you have a deal."

"Wonderful." Lucifer reached over and collected the pages before standing up. "I'll have some new contracts drafted. Once everything is signed and filed away we can get started. I'll be back with the revised contracts in a few days' time."

Lucifer was as good as his word. Two days later he returned with a new stack of parchments. He cast the spell that let Nigun read the mystical characters and he went over the entire document three times, looking for anything new that might have been slipped in with the revision.

The terms they agreed upon were there, and the bit about the veto was gone, but other than that everything seemed to be the same as it was in the first draft.

So… it was okay, right?

Lucifer had set an empty inkwell, a fountain pen, and a small knife on the table when he first walked in. No explanation was needed, he understood what they were for.

He had spent all afternoon looking over those same ten pages over and over again and didn't find anything out of place.

All he had to think about was the glory he would earn upon his return to the Theocracy, and the idea of what might happen if he refuse to sign at all. This was as much for his current protection as it was for his future.

Finally, he opened a small cut with the knife and let a trickle of blood slowly fill the inkwell enough that he could suck up some of the liquid with the fountain pen.

With quick, decisive movements he inscribed his name at the bottom of both contracts, setting his fate in stone.

"Fantastic." Lucifer was all smiles as he took both pages and blew on them to help the blood dry. "You won't regret this, I guarantee. Here, let me see your hand. [Cure Light Wounds]."

As the cut on his hand sealed over he sat back and tried to control his nerves as the creature before him reorganized both contracts and left one in front of him.

"Now then, as for my agent who will serve as your pupil, I believe I shall choose myself. There's plenty to learn about this new world and I expect you to help me."

Nigun didn't react to that revelation. He half expected it already.

"I think we'll start with geography tomorrow morning, then we'll move on to history, politics, magic, religion, agriculture, architecture, I'm sure that there are plenty of things you'll be able to teach me. So rest up sensei because there will be plenty of work to do. And remember, I have a Skill that tells me when someone is lying, so don't forget your responsibilities and promises. I'd hate for this to become another one of those stories."

Nigun stood up with all the dignity he could muster. "I fully expect to meet your high standards. I also fully expect you to live by your end of the bargain when this is done."

"Oh, don't worry, I always follow the terms of a contract." Lucifer floated over toward the door and held it open. "Starting tomorrow you'll be allowed to roam around the ninth floor so long as you stay out of prohibited areas. Feel free to visit the hot springs, you look like you need to relax. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning."

Nigun nodded, short and curt. "I'll be here."

As he watched the winged figure close the door behind him, Nigun did his best to control the shaking in his hands. He gathered up the pages of the contract, and almost flinched when he dropped one.

He knelt down to pick up the fallen page and stopped short as he saw the reverse side of the page.

Emblazoned on the parchment was an intricate design in black ink.

The shaking in his hands got worse as he recognized the mark. Bosun, one of his direct subordinates, had that design tattooed on his back.

He quickly gathered the pages together and shoved them into a drawer in the bedroom. Deep suspicions gathered in his mind as to exactly where his 'partner' was getting the materials for these contracts from.

'It will all be alright. God is on my side, and he has never let me down. I will bear this trial and overcome it for the sake of the Slane Theocracy and the glory of the Six Great Gods.'

For some reason, his prayers that night didn't give him the succor that they usually did.

XXXXXXXXX

Lucifer closed the door behind him and smiled wide as he floated down the hall. He danced a little circle in the air as he went and sang "Hoook, liiiiine, and sinkeeer!"

"You're terrible, you know that Lucifer-san?" The deep voice of the Guildmaster came out of nowhere a moment before the skeleton appeared from thin air, his 'Complete Invisibility' spell failing. "But are you sure that he won't get out of this? That bit about letting him go makes me nervous."

The angel was all smiles. "Relax Momonga, that'll never happen. The whole reason I put that bit about a task into the contract was to nail him. If that wasn't enough there are loads of ways to make him breach contract, and even if all of that fails we still have the ace in the hole."

Momonga walked beside Lucifer as they made their way down the hall. "And what's that?"

His friend let out a small chuckle, he could barely contain himself. "You were in there the whole time when he read this thing out loud. It promises that if he's allowed to leave neither I nor my subordinates will stop him or get revenge. That doesn't say anything about my peers. I apologize in advance, but if it comes down to it you, Hero, or Tigris will have to murder that guy for us."

"Mmh, it's no problem. I'm surprised you got him to sign that though. When you point them out, there are loads of advantages for us in there, and it's full of danger for him. By the way, if he breaks it, do you really think you can just take his soul?"

Lucifer shrugged. "Well, he fought back some, which I was fine with. He might not look it, but that guy's got a good eye for detail." He let out another chuckle as he continued on. "But too bad his analytical skills SUCK. He's your everyday retard, the easiest type to take for a ride. Fill my life with people like that Momonga, and I will never go hungry."

Momonga couldn't help but look away as his friend barely contained his laughter. He couldn't help but think there was a jibe at him somewhere in there as the angel regained control of himself.

"It also helps that he's brave. I dangled a lifeline in front of him when he was in a bad situation and he jumped on it. He knows that there are dangers in that contract, you could see it. He just didn't know where they were. But despite that he was determined to seize the opportunity I presented to him because he didn't see any other way forward. So he's brave and stupid. In other words, the kind I eat for breakfast. To answer your soul question, probably not. Technically with my 'Prince of Darkness' class I CAN make a spellcasting contract that grants power to others in exchange for benefits to me, but I doubt that will have anything to do with this." Lucifer sighed. "As cool as it would be if it were true, this thing is just parchment and blood. No actual power whatsoever. But he doesn't know that."

The Overlord waited for the next round of controlled laughter to pass before speaking up. "Just remember to get as much as you can out of him. This deal seems to make him willing, which is better than torturing him, especially in light of what Tigris found about them. But we need to find out about these Gods of theirs. Or whoever it is that taught them that magic. I guarantee that it's a Player."

Lucifer nodded happily. "You're probably right about that one. They summon Angels, but the name of Lucifer means nothing to them. So they aren't aware of the Judeo-Christian back story of Angels and Demons at all even though all the other names are the same. There's really only one explanation and that's a YGGDRASIL Player. But the weird thing is how all of them knew the same things. That kind of information doesn't sink into a culture, or even a small group, overnight. Odds are pretty good that we're not the first Players here, and everything seems to point toward the Theocracy. So the next step is to secure our flanks and then smoke them out into the open."

Momonga nodded. "Agreed, but we have to do it in a way that doesn't endanger Nazarick. I have an idea or two about how to do that. But first, we have to get to the Throne Room. It's time to announce the goals of Ainz Ooal Gown to all the NPC's."

"I'll be there. I'm just going to drop this off in the library and I'll be right in."

After that the skeleton teleported away and Lucifer vanished to the library on the tenth floor. Then they rejoined their comrades in the Throne Room before the assembled NPCs to announce their ultimate goal for them all to hear.

To make the name of Ainz Ooal Gown an eternal legend.

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And that's that, chapter nine complete.

I'm terribly sorry that it took so long. On the bright side, you'll be happy to hear my New Year's Resolution. I'm determined to get at least one new chapter out every quarter. That might not be the best of news, but that's better than what I've managed lately so I hope you'll bear with me.

No Overlord trivia today, so I'll leave things off with a character sheet.

 **NIGUN GRID LUIN**

 **Summoner of Angels**

 **Alignment-** -50 – Neutral-Evil

 **Job-** Captain of the Sunlight Scripture

 **Residence-** Slane Theocracy Capital (Currently Great Tomb of Nazarick)

 **Job Level- 28**

Cleric Lv.15

Warrior Priest Lv.5

Summoner Lv.5

Seeker of Communion Lv.3

 **HP:** 18

 **MP:** 25

 **P. Atk:** 17

 **P. Def:** 20

 **Agility:** 15

 **M. Atk:** 22

 **M. Def:** 25

 **Resistance:** 22

 **Special Ability:** 16

 **Total:** 180

The leader of the Sunlight Scripture of the Six Scriptures, and of the six it is the group that most regularly sees combat. Nigun's duties usually involved wiping out tribes and villages of Demi-humans to ensure that no significant civilization of monsters would ever grow too closely to the human controlled nations. In this fashion, the Sunlight Scripture sought to protect humanity from those that would subjugate it.

They were tasked to assassinate Gazef Stronoff, the Warrior-Captain of the Kingdom, in the hopes that it would ease the way for the Baharuth Empire to conquer the nation. This was done so the Empire could usher in an age of progress and reform by wiping out the factional and corrupt aristocracy of that nation and strengthening the heartland of human territory. Nigun sought to carry out his duty in the most efficient manner possible and in such a way that it would minimize damage to the Kingdom as a whole so as to preserve its resources to fall into wiser hands.

So, that's that. Starting next chapter we move on to volume two. I hope you enjoyed the chapter after so long. Please review and let me know what you all think and I will see you all again in the next chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

Last Remnants chapter ten, as promised.

So, I'd like to point out an inconsistency I've found. Regarding money in Overlord. In volume two, it's said that thirty two gold coins are enough for a family to live comfortably for three years. In volume seven, it's said that three gold coins are enough to feed an average family for a month. Needless to say, these values do not add up. And the value of coinage in the Kingdom and the Empire is supposed to be equivalent. With that said, given how much Brita made a fuss over almost two gold coins for the value of her spilled potion, I'm going to be cleaving more towards the prior value, where ten gold coins are enough for a year rather than thirty. If it takes thirty gold coins for an average family to survive for a year, two gold coins isn't that huge an amount of money, especially for an Adventurer; even if they are low rank. So it makes more sense, to me at least, for the gold coin to have the stronger buying power in the face of this discrepancy.

Now, I played the events of volume one pretty close to canon. That was partially due to necessity thanks to the identical point of origin for the story. Now that we've moved beyond the initial events, you're going to see how things change with a few more Supreme Beings thrown into the mix for Momonga to bounce ideas off of, to add other points of view into things, and to come up with ideas of their own. To say nothing of how the changed events of the previous few chapters change perspectives for Momonga and others.

This will be the start of where things go down a different road than canon. I hope you enjoy it.

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In the southeastern part of the Kingdom of Re-Estize stood the Fortress City of E-Rantel. It straddled the borders of the Baharuth Empire and the Slane Theocracy and was renowned for its three layers of walls. These concentric circles of stone and mortar divided the city into three districts.

The outermost district was usually used to host the armies of the Kingdom in times of war. As a result the area boasted numerous barracks, training fields, and other military facilities. While it also hosted the barracks used by the city guard, perhaps the most famous feature of this area was the massive graveyard that took up approximately one quarter of all the available space, the largest graveyard in either the Kingdom of the Empire.

The heavily guarded innermost district was the administrative heart of the city, featuring the manor of the city's Lord-Mayor, the tax collector's office, storehouses for military rations and government issued weapons, and the homes of the wealthy elite of the city.

It was in the middle district that the common people made their homes and livings, featuring numerous plazas, shops, guilds, inns, and everything else one would expect from a city.

Everything except what one young man was looking for.

Nothing created by man was perfect, everything had its ups and downs. In every city, no matter how picturesque and prosperous, there were places that people were happy to frequent, and places that mothers told their children to avoid. The Pauper's District that he had been exploring for the past half hour would be an excellent example of the latter.

This young man was plain by many standards. In his roughspun shirt and pants held up by a rope belt, he looked maybe a bit down on his luck but he wouldn't have stood out in a crowd. With his shaggy blond hair, blue eyes, and pale skin, he would have fit in anywhere in the Kingdom.

The only thing that felt off, if one were to stay in his presence long enough to notice it, was the distinct air of disdain he seemed to hold toward everything around him. He didn't have the presence of some down-on-his-luck bum that his clothes would portray.

This air of disdain might have made one suspect the youth of being a noble in disguise, slumming it among the commoners for a day. It was this idea, perhaps combined with dissatisfaction with the way the city was run, that resulted in this young man being cornered in this bad part of town by a trio of burly men.

One look at the three was enough to guess that these weren't people who led lives to be proud of. Their clothes were stained, their muscles clear to see, and scars on their faces and arms declared a history spent on the wrong side of at least one fight. More scars on their knuckles proved they weren't always on the receiving side of violence.

Their intended victim looked from one to the next as he was backed into a corner, a sneer forming on his lips as he spoke "Is there anything I can do to help you gentlemen?"

The three toughs smiled, revealing poor dental hygiene among other things as one swept greasy bangs away from his eyes. "Yeah, you can help us, sure. All you have to do is hand over any money you have, and scamper off to wherever the hell you came from and we won't have no trouble."

Normally when these men tried something like this their targets were cowering in fear. This one just looked up at the one who spoke, who towered at least a foot taller than him, and replied "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I've lost my wallet. If you want payment you're going to have to look elsewhere."

Another of the thugs slowly started cracking his knuckles. "Ah, I'm sorry to hear that. Really, I am. If we had the money, we'd go and enjoy ourselves at a tavern. But if we don't have the money to do that, we're going to have to find some… other means… of entertainment."

As the other two sniggered at the threat the one they were closing in on finally backed into a wall, stuck in the corner of two ramshackle houses.

"I see. And I take it you expect me to supply this other means to entertain yourselves?"

The third tough, a bit shorter than the other two, smiled wide at the question, letting his rancid breath sour the air around him. "That's right, I'm glad you understand."

The young man just shook his head and sighed as one of the three reached out to grab him. "You sure you want to do this? Last chance."

The thug's only response was a snarl as he snatched the collar of the youth's tunic and dragged him forward.

A scream echoed throughout the alley as their would-be-victim seized that same hand with inhuman strength, but it was quickly silenced as the thug was pulled in and knocked unconscious with a single punch to the jaw. The crack of breaking bone was unmistakable.

The other two thugs were shocked but quickly regained their wits as their friend flopped to the floor. They rushed forward with shouts of indignant rage.

Their target stepped in, reaching up to grab one of them by his neck and belt before bodily throwing him toward the nearest wall. A vicious ' _crunch_ ' resounded through the alley as he flopped to the ground and lay still.

Before the third man could react, the boy was already in front of him. A punch to the abdomen knocked the air from his lungs, and a second punch to the neck sent the man to the ground.

All was silent as the young man glanced at his would-be robbers and shook his head. They had no way of knowing what they were getting into, but that didn't change the fact that they should have realized something was wrong.

'I gave them every chance to leave me alone, but they kept coming. And once they actually tried to attack me I had no choice. It's not like I can run away.'

It didn't help that he was in a foul mood. He had spent all morning searching all over this rat's nest people here called a city and he didn't find anything remotely close to what he was looking for. It was a major disappointment, and the obvious squalor of some areas didn't help his opinion of the city much either.

'No charm, no culture, no literacy, hardly any paved roads even…. And then some idiots try to mug me. If things don't look up soon, I'm pretty sure I'm going to burn this place down because this is just plain inexcusable.'

He looked around at the three unconscious men. It didn't take long to see that the wounds they sustained were filled with a celestial, ethereal light.

That light burned the flesh it clung to, widening and deepening the wounds as they filled the alley with the reek of burning meat.

The neck and solar plexus of the third man, the neck and the shoulder of the second, and the wrist and jaw of the first; in all of these places a quiet fire burned. The punishment for daring to touch something greater than they could ever hope to be.

Before long the men would be corpses, and then the corpses would be completely gone, leaving no trace of what had happened.

'Those idiots really shouldn't have gotten in my way, but I can't exactly leave them like this. It would just be a waste.'

He had already gone easy on them; if he had hit them as hard as he wanted to they would have been ripped apart. So he willfully deactivated the skill that dealt continuous fire and holy damage to targets he struck and the holy flame ceased burning. One casting of 'Mass Cure Light Wounds' later and the men were back in the fullness of health, if still unconscious.

The young man took a quick glance around before pointing toward the corner he was trapped in a moment ago. "[Portal]"

A dark oval appeared in the stone just in time for the first thug to fly through it, swiftly followed by the other two. The young man poked his head through to give orders to what waited on the other side and then he let the magic fade. It would be a waste to kill them when they were worth so much more alive.

He swiftly left the alley and made his way back toward the main street. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the essence of the city around him. The stench of food scraps, mold, horse shit, and numerous other reeks made their presence known.

He held his breath for just a moment before letting it out, shaking his head. 'First things first, I need to cheer myself up. Those idiots helped, but it wasn't enough.'

The young man was thoroughly disappointed in this collection of hovels, even though he already lowered his expectations. Beating up a few worthless fools and securing a few new sacrifices wasn't enough to ease his wrath by itself. It burned like a low flame in the back of his mind, constantly interrupting his thoughts, constantly getting in the way.

He couldn't leave it as it was. He would never have any peace.

With that in mind he quickly got the attention of a random passerby. "Excuse me sir, but where can I find the nearest temple?"

XXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere in the city, far from the ramshackle squalor of the Pauper's District, the people were much more vigorous and lively. The air in the Central Plaza was practically festive as vendors cried their wares as people went about their business. Older women haggled for meat and vegetables and spices while younger men purchased hot food to eat then and there.

The rowdy atmosphere was practically festive as the common people went about their lives.

But the energy quickly stilled as a trio of people emerged from a five storey building.

The first was a beautiful woman who looked to be in her early twenties. Her pale skin was like ivory in the sunlight, and her kind eyes were like obsidian. Her beautiful black hair was coiled into a bun at the back of her head, and between her hairstyle and the glasses she wore she gave off a stern yet kind atmosphere that would make any man swoon. She wore no armor, only a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of pants made of a gauzy white material and held up by a solid black belt. Gauntlets made of a silvery metal covered her hands and wrists, while greaves made of the same material protected her shins atop a pair of embroidered leather boots that encased her feet. She may have dressed like a boy, but everything she wore accentuated a curvaceous figure that any woman would envy. Wrapped tightly around her neck was a black choker embedded with opals that reminded one of the trappings of high aristocracy alongside a loop of simple string that held bore what looked like an inch of steel inscribed with mysterious runes.

She was gorgeous, but more than her physical beauty it was her elegance and poise that drew the eye of any that beheld her, she moved with a mesmerizing grace.

If the first woman was light, the second was dark. Her skin was the color of caramel and her eyes were like amber. Her fiery red hair was held in a pair of braids that reached all the way down to her waist. A wide smile showed a cheer that would liven up any room she happened to walk into. She wore a black dress that reached all the way down to her ankles and sported a somewhat low neckline, showing the barest hint of cleavage as she filled out her dress. Not as busty as the other woman, but still enough to make any man happy. A long slit up the side of the dress showed a generous measure of luscious thigh above calf-high boots while a white leather belt encircled her waist and held a trio of wands made of pale blue crystal. Black silk gloves, a cap of white cloth, a golden necklace, and a pair of black metal bracelets completed her outfit. The thing that truly stood out however was the massive staff of silver and black she carried on a strap that went over her shoulder. The head of the weapon was wider than her shoulders and the girl hefted it along like it weighed nothing at all.

She smiled and waved with both hands as she passed by the people who watched her and her companions in awed silence. She didn't have the stern warmth of her companion, but it was clear that her cheer and joy would melt many hearts.

The gender of the third was unidentifiable under their voluminous clothing. A voluminous mantle of shimmering gray cloth went over a robe of the same soft gray material and the robe's hood was pulled forward to conceal the face in shadow. Iron gauntlets sheathed the figure's hands as it grasped a staff of black metal decorated with silvery runes topped with an emerald orb. A thick black leather belt secured around the figure's waist, and it was covered in loops that secured half a dozen scrolls and a pair of black wands. As the shapeless thing in gray walked forward the light cast away some of the hood's shadows, and a few people gasped as they recognized the green sheen of orichalcum. The green mask was shaped to give the impression of lips and nose, and a pair of oval holes for the eyes. The mask was otherwise decorated with a blazing sapphire in the middle of the forehead, and intricate patterns of gold and platinum surrounded the gem and trailed out above the mask's eyes. Anyone who knew anything about metals would recognize that the piece had to be worth a fortune. The gleam that suggested that it was magically enchanted only added to its value. That mask would be worthy equipment for an orichalcum, maybe even an Adamantite Adventurer.

The fact that they were Adventurers was obvious for a variety of reasons. Their strange appearance was a dead giveaway, as was the fact that they had just walked out of the Adventurer's Guild. But the most obvious sign of their profession was the metal plate strung around the necks of all three.

The truly bizarre thing, however, and the thing that had everyone who spotted it stunned, was the color of those plates.

For all their impressive equipment and clear confidence, all three plates were copper.

XXXXXXXXX

The three made their way away from the Central Plaza and down several streets before passing through a road that wasn't full of people and the sounds of the multitudes faded into a distant static. Water gathered in wagon ruts left in the dirt path, turning the way into a slog of mud. It would be easy to trip, but all three were sure of foot and made their way through the narrow path without slowing down.

After a moment, the black haired beauty took a look around to make sure they were alone before gently cleared her throat "Pardon me Suzuki-sama-"

"No, you are not to address me as –sama. You got the name right, but you're still treating me too formally. Here I am Suzuki, a mage of great power. You are not Yuri Alpha, but Irri, and Lupusregina is Erin, Suzuki's adventuring companions. Addressing me as –sama is far too formal."

The eldest sister of the Pleiades was taken short for a moment before bowing her head. "I-I am sorry Momonga-sa, I mean, Suzuki-sama, I mean, -san, but how could I be so disrespectful to one of the Supreme Beings?!"

Momonga was taken aback both at Yuri's impassioned question and at the arm that he found slung over his shoulders.

Lupusregina leaned against him in a gesture of camaraderie as she gave her elder sister a sly grin. "Come oooon Yuri-nee~, you've got to learn to adapt! If Suzuki here wants us to treat him informally you have to be ready to do as he tells you su~."

Yuri looked up at her sister with an expression of utter shock, while Momonga was internally panicking.

He had never been this close to a girl before. Having one as voluptuous as Lupusregina Beta suddenly clinging to him threw his thoughts into severe disorder. He half expected someone to show up and declare him a pervert for doing such things. Even worse would be the question of what would happen if Tigris Euphrates saw this.

It took a moment before Yuri got over her shock and advanced on the giggling Lupusregina. "What do you think you are doing!? How could you treat Momonga-sama, I mean Suzuki-sama, with such disrespect!? Get down and apologize right now! Do you have no respect for the Supreme Beings!?"

The younger sister let go of the nearly stuttering Momonga and gracefully avoided Yuri's attempt to grab her. "Of course I respect them Yuri-nee, they are the Supreme Beings after all, how could I not? But you have your orders and I have mine. Tigris Euphrates-sama told me to accompany and obey Momonga-sama."

Yuri stopped short as Lupusregina continued "I respect the Supreme Beings as much as anyone else in Nazarick, but if Tigris Euphrates-sama tells me to disregard that respect, then I'll do it. My Creator told me to obey Momonga-sama, and Momonga-sama told us both to treat him like a companion, not a superior, while we're out playing Adventurer. So while there are people in Nazarick who might not like it, and I find it extremely weird, I'll do it. If anyone has any problems they can take it up with Momonga-sama and Tigris Euphrates-sama. And the same goes for you Yuri-nee." The younger sister's gaze grew cold. "If you want to give orders that contradict what I was told by Tigris Euphrates-sama, don't expect me to listen to 'em, okay~?"

Lupusregina's tone regained its excitable and cute quality there at the end, but the body of the message was deadly serious. Yuri sort of drooped as she considered the reality before her. 'If Tigris Euphrates-sama gave Lupusregina orders like that then there's nothing I can do to stop her.' Indeed, in the minds of anyone from Nazarick, trying to counteract the orders of any of the Supreme Beings was a great sin.

It was a bizarre situation, and Yuri didn't really know how to handle the conflicting instincts within her.

"Both of you quiet down! You're being too loud." Thankfully she didn't have to as Momonga recovered and took control of the situation. Both sisters let out a small gasp as they realized how loudly they had been speaking in their excitement.

Momonga just sighed as he looked at the two of them. 'Maybe it would have been better to bring Narberal after all….'

When he originally proposed the idea to take the place of Adventurers, he was hoping to do so with all of his friends. It might not have been quite the same, but going on Adventurers with some of his Guild members would have been a return to old times, he was really looking forward to it.

Unfortunately it seemed that none of them wanted to do it.

'Lucifer-san claimed he was too busy gathering information. Herohero-san said he was too busy making magic items and learning about Nazarick's management. And Tigris Euphrates-san said that he didn't want to waste time doing fetch quests for pocket change and that he'd rather explore the cities on his own.'

'And then Lucifer-san turned it right back around and said that it was a good idea to try and infiltrate the Kingdom from that angle and suggested taking some NPCs.'

Momonga wanted to make the name of Ainz Ooal Gown famous across the land in the hopes of attracting any other Guild members who might be in this world. So he figured becoming famous Adventurers and later crediting that fame to Ainz Ooal Gown would be a good way to help spread the word. It had nothing to do with trying to get away from his responsibilities in Nazarick at all! It really didn't! But when he floated the idea by them all three of them just got these weird looks on their faces and said that 'while that might work it's probably better to have only one of us go.'

He couldn't help but feel like he just got avoided.

But even though they didn't want to come they still helped him put together a strategy for getting famous. After deciding on going with NPCs, he originally wanted to go with just one companion, and he first thought to have Narberal Gamma fill that role. He couldn't give away just how powerful he was without risking attention from people he'd rather avoid, so it was a good idea to take someone else and move as a party, rather than a single all-powerful individual to avoid having people get suspicious. Narberal was a good choice, in his mind, because she could effortlessly fit in with human society thanks to her Doppelganger race.

Herohero-san convinced him to take someone else in about ten minutes. All the ooze did was bring Narberal in and ask her a few questions about humans before Momonga decided that taking her might not have been his best idea.

It was Lucifer-san who suggested discarding his initial idea to going as a warrior in favor of going as a spellcaster. They knew, thanks to the Sunlight Scripture, that Third Tier magic was considered very high end. Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Tier magic was considered to be in the realm of true geniuses and legend. Magic beyond that was nothing more than rumor and myth to most.

So, posing as a spellcaster who could use high magic was a surefire way to become famous quickly, the angel posed. Plus, in the event of a serious ambush, he wouldn't be stuck wearing equipment meant to help him fight like a warrior. While he could use magic to wear armor, if he was attacked by someone at level one hundred, having warrior items equipped would be a fatal disadvantage even if he wasn't actually wearing armor.

Tigris Euphrates had suggested taking along a more balanced party. If he was going to go as a mage, it was only natural to take someone more physically inclined, and a healer was a necessity for any kind of Adventuring party. Going with anything less was going to be suspicious as all hell.

Momonga agreed with that but was struggling to find someone to fill the role that could also fit in with humans.

The Efreeti made it easier by volunteering Lupusregina Beta. Momonga thought of her, but didn't want to suggest taking her. She was Tigris' NPC. So he had no right to give her orders without his friend's consent. That Tigris volunteered her himself made things a lot simpler. But that would still leave someone to cover himself and Lupusregina. They couldn't form a convincing party with a pair of spellcasters, however powerful they may be.

Herohero proposed using Yuri Alpha. Momonga didn't initially like the suggestion. She was Undead, and there were plenty of skills and abilities that could detect them. Sure, they could give her an item to protect her from being found that way, like what he himself used, but she was also a Dullahan. He knew that Yuri's choker was supposed to keep her head from falling off, but if something went wrong and Yuri lost her head, the whole scheme would go up in smoke.

It took a while for him to agree to use Yuri, but he eventually gave in. She was an excellent choice for infiltrating human society given her positive karma and nurturing disposition. He just hoped that it wouldn't blow up in his face.

There were a few objections from the NPCs themselves about the whole operation, especially Albedo. They didn't like that he, the Guildmaster, was going out with such light protection. Even worse, he was caught answering their questions alone while his friends were off doing other things and he couldn't just call them in to help. On top of that, he still felt guilty about going off on his own at that village and about what he did to Albedo, so he couldn't just order them to obey.

The NPC's were the creations of his closest friends, ordering them around made him feel guilty. He could only imagine how Tabula Smaragdina would feel if he found out about Momonga's alteration of Albedo's settings, or what Peroroncino would feel about what had been done to Shalltear. He had no idea how he would face either of them.

Still, this was a deliberate expedition, not a willful stroll like that village, so he stuck to his guns and insisted on going. But Albedo still argued against it, mostly about how she wouldn't be allowed to go with him. For a while, he thought that the two of them would be at an impasse until one of his friends showed up to help, but Demiurge turned out to be his savior instead. He whispered something into Albedo's ear, he had no idea what, and Albedo immediately changed her mind.

Momonga couldn't help but wonder what Demiurge said to her, and at the same time he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

There were a variety of reasons why he never even considered taking Albedo, her opinion about humans, her lack of ability to pass as human, but most of all was the fact that he could never relax with her around.

Albedo's settings were altered so that she would love him. He only did it as a joke but he still did it. And even after learning that her feelings were only the way they were because he forcefully changed them she didn't care. Momonga was reminded of this mistake every time he saw her, and every time she declared her love for him. It only made the guilt he felt worse.

'There are times when I truly envy Lucifer-san….'

Among all the forty members of Ainz Ooal Gown, not counting himself, he could solidly say that Lucifer fell into the category of Guild members he didn't like all that much. He had caused so many problems in the Guild that he couldn't help but see the man as a bit of a nuisance. But for all that Momonga didn't really like him, he could not deny that Lucifer was smarter than he was. Where Momonga struggled, Lucifer quickly found a solution.

But more than that was the ease that he took to this whole situation.

Momonga didn't have the slightest idea what he was doing. All he was doing was acting like what he thought an ideal boss would feel like, but he still had no clue as to how it would turn out. Where he struggled with trying to lead, Lucifer took to their new positions like a fish to water. Momonga found the burden of trying to live up to the NPC's expectations crushing. What if he made a mistake? What if he screwed up or said something wrong? To be able to get away from the burden of their expectations for him, to get away from their thoughts that he was perfect, was half the reason he wanted to do this Adventuring thing in the first place. Even if he would never admit that. From what he could see Herohero was in much the same boat. They were both salarymen, neither of them had anything remotely close to the power and respect they had now. Tigris was a little better, but he didn't find it all that easy either. And then Lucifer stepped into the role like he had always been there.

But for all his ability there were things about him that Momonga couldn't stand. Like how he disregarded the potential threats arrayed against them. Lucifer didn't seem to care about the possibility of other players attacking them at all. At the very least, he wasn't nearly as worried as Momonga was. To the skeleton, that was incredibly reckless.

Worst of all there was how he treated the NPCs. Momonga considered them the legacy of their friends in Ainz Ooal Gown, they were treasures left behind to be nurtured and protected, practically children. Momonga hesitated to give them commands, and he would be perfectly fine with getting rid of the master-servant relationship they shared. In the future, he definitely wanted to find out if they could learn, and grow with acquired knowledge. He wanted them to think for themselves.

Lucifer was the opposite. He didn't consider them treasures, he considered them tools. Expensive tools, maybe, worthy of careful maintenance and upkeep, but still expendable under the right circumstances. Momonga could see it, plain as day. Momonga wanted them to think for themselves, but the angel only wanted them to obey. Lucifer might not be as frivolous with their lives as he initially feared, but that didn't change the fact that he considered them servants and had no problem with giving them orders.

And to Momonga's consternation, the NPCs seemed perfectly fine with that.

Momonga didn't know what to do. Every time he saw the man flirting with Shalltear over the past few days he felt a burning envy, and guilt for feeling that envy, for wanting to be able to do things like that himself, in addition to guilt for letting the situation develop in the first place. And then after a few moments his undead body would suppress the emotions and he would stop worrying about it.

Then there were the other two. They weren't as blatant about it, but he was pretty sure that they didn't care as much as he did either. Herohero was right there with Lucifer for demanding that certain NPCs be monitored. After that though, Herohero seemed to be trying to limit his interactions with the NPCs except for Albedo, all the while focusing on regaining his own abilities and experimenting with his crafting skills. Before the transfer the slime hadn't played YGGDRASIL for two years so he had a lot of catching up to do. But even when he did work with the NPCs he always seemed unnecessarily cold, even brusque.

And then there was Tigris. He had said in the arena that 'it was better to be feared than loved' and then there was that whole thing with Aura. Tigris Euphrates could deal with NPCs well enough, he wasn't shy or anything, but when something didn't turn out right Tigris was always the first to crack the whip.

Momonga was increasingly certain that nobody truly shared his views regarding the NPCs as treasured relics of their companions.

Even worse was that Momonga couldn't fault them. He had made use of Albedo's settings change for his own gain, leaving her to manage Nazarick with Herohero while he explored this New World. He could only do that because he trusted Herohero to keep an eye on her, and because of the twin shackles of loyalty and love that bound Albedo to him. Herohero could only keep such careful track of her because of the bracelet he, Momonga, had used Albedo's love to convince her to wear.

He had used Albedo's feelings to manipulate her, and he hated himself for that. He had done something that Lucifer would have done. So he couldn't truly say anything against the three of them, because it would be hypocritical to do so.

It was complicated.

Momonga shook himself out of his reverie and away from the dark thoughts. His Undead body automatically suppressed any powerful emotions he felt, but he still experienced petty feelings like those as keenly as when he was human. Maybe, when he fully took on an Undead mindset, he would no longer have those feelings of guilt, envy, and self hatred.

He turned toward the two NPCs he was in charge of. "You two can't be so loud, especially if you use your real names. We can't let anybody find out about our real identities, you understand?"

Both NPCs immediately bowed and voiced their agreed while he continued. "Also, there's one other thing. We might give off a sort of… killing intent… that people here can detect if we fight in earnest. So, neither of you are to fight seriously without my permission, you are to keep to the limits that we discussed before. Understood?"

"Understood Suzuki-sa…n"

"You got it Suzuki."

He was a bit taken aback. 'Maybe it wasn't a good idea to use my real name.' Having two beautiful women bowing to him and referring to him by name was… intimidating. "Right, well, um, that's all. Let's get going, that inn should be around here somewhere."

Momonga led the two of them through the narrow, muddy street and took several turns before looking around as they emerged onto a paved road.

There were plenty of shops open for business in this densely populated commercial district. Customers filed in and out and people in work aprons carried loads of lumber and heavy crates.

The three of them quickly scanned the shop signs for what they were looking for. Neither Yuri nor Lupusregina could read the Kingdom's script and, truthfully, Momonga couldn't make any sense of it either. But he had a way around that.

Underneath his mask he was wearing a pair of glasses with lenses of blue crystal and golden frames. They automatically translated any language he saw into a language he could understand. He had something like this before, but he gave that item to Sebas to aid in the Butler's information gathering. Herohero had created this second pair once plans for this Adventurer gig were finalized, realizing that the written languages of this world were illegible to them. Which was something Momonga forgot about.

With gratitude in his heart, he quickly identified the inn they were looking for and waved for the sisters to follow him as he made his way toward a ramshackle three storey building made of wood.

He quickly attempted to scrape the mud off his shoes, but there was no need. No mud had adhered to them thanks to the magic imbued in them to keep him from leaving footprints. He just shrugged at the phenomenon and pushed open the western style saloon doors.

The building didn't have any open windows, so the inside was considerably dark. Most people would be disoriented for a while until they adjusted but Momonga had Darkvision so it didn't bother him at all as he took in the scene before him.

The area the door opened into was quite spacious. The first floor was mostly a dining area, with a bar at the far back. A door next to the bar presumably led into a kitchen. A spiral staircase in one corner led to the upper floors where the receptionist at the Adventurer's Guild told him that the rooms and dormitories would be found.

Scattered customers were seated around several small tables. Almost all of them were men, and an air of imminent violence hung thick over the room like an oppressive fog. _Everyone's_ attention was squarely on Momonga, clearly sizing him up as he stepped inside and the Pleiades walked in to stand beside him. The only one who didn't pay any attention to him was one woman off in the corner, staring at a bottle that rested on the table before her.

Momonga couldn't help but wrinkle his non-existent brow at this stereotypical tavern scene.

He sort of expected this, but… there was no other way to put it, it was filthier than he thought it would be.

There were plenty of dirty places in YGGDRASIL, Nazarick had a few of them as well, but this was a different kind of filth. With the dirty floors, the moldy bits of who-knows-what in the corners, the stains on the walls… it lacked artistry.

The robed skeleton quickly found the tavern keeper over by the bar, a bald, burly man in a dirty apron with plenty of scars. He looked more like a bouncer than an innkeeper.

As Momonga and the sisters walked up to him, the innkeeper blatantly sized them up as he held a mop. "You want a room? For how long?" The man's voice was like a broken bell, it grated on the ears.

The disguised Player quietly responded that they only intended to stay for a single night.

"…Cheh, copper plates huh? For three, space in the common room is six coppers, food is oatmeal and vegetables. If you want meat, that's another copper. You might be getting some old bread instead of the oatmeal."

Momonga took a quick glance at his companions. Lupusregina was looking around the room with barely concealed boredom, Yuri was holding herself with perfect poise, but he could tell she was far from happy. But the important thing is that they didn't look like they were about to get violent over the innkeeper's lack of hospitality.

He turned back to said innkeeper. "If possible, we'd prefer a private room for three."

Momonga was pretty sure he heard the man snort.

He looked down his nose at the masked man before him as he started "In this town there are three inns that cater to Adventurers, and of the three mine's the worst of the lot. Do you know why the Guild sent you here?"

"I'm afraid I do not. Could you tell me why?"

The innkeeper's disdain turned to anger. "Is all that fancy crap you're in all for show!? Use your head! My place is the joint that copper and iron Adventurers hang out, this is the place to look for new party members to help balance our your team if you're strong and maybe a little lucky. If you can't form a strong, balanced team, you'll be nothing but lunch to the monsters out there. They sent you hear because this is the best place to make some connections. You get it!?"

Momonga weathered the shouting with good grace. Before the transfer, if someone started yelling at him like that he'd probably have cowered in fear. He could probably take it now because of the battle he experienced at Carne Village, and the information that they had gathered. From what they'd found, he should be extremely strong by this world's standards. As a result, he had nothing to fear from this innkeeper even if was pretty burly. Because of that knowledge of their strength, he kept calm and felt no fear.

The scarred man raised an eyebrow at Momonga's lack of reaction. "So you have some guts after all, fancy that. If you want to stay in a room, that's fine, but you won't find more party members that way. You've got three so far, but three is too few for a proper party. If you stay in the common room, you'll probably find someone to help balance your team out advertising themselves. So, knowing all that, do you still intend to stay in a private room?"

Momonga didn't need to even consider it. "Yes, a private room for three please. And we'll pass on the food."

The innkeeper just shook his head. "Yet another who doesn't understand the kindness of others. Sadly, you're out of luck. I don't have any rooms bigger than a double. If you want room for three you'll have to pay for two rooms, or two of you will have to share a bunk. For just a double room it'll be seven coppers, for a double and a single it'll be twelve."

That was a real snag. As much as Momonga wanted to portray himself as capable and successful, it didn't change the fact that he didn't have much money. Or rather, he didn't have much of this world's money. He didn't really have what he needed to rent two rooms, nor did he want to rent just the one room and appear cheap.

Ultimately, there really wasn't much of a choice. He didn't have the money. He might risk appearing cheap for now, but if he had his way the deeds he would accomplish would make people forget he was down on his luck once.

He dropped a single silver coin on the table before him that was quickly swept into the innkeeper's pocket. "We'll take just the double room. Sorry you two, but you'll have to share a bunk tonight."

"No problem~"

"It can't be helped."

The innkeeper put three coppers and a small key onto the counter. "Here's your change. It's on the third floor, first room on your right. I'd suggest you keep the door locked and don't go messing around with locked doors. If you lose the key, you're paying for the replacement."

Momonga thanked the man and swept up the coins and the key before asking a question. "I was told at the Guild that you can put together some kit for us? We've unfortunately lost some of our things."

The scarred man just shrugged. "Sure, I'll have it ready by dinner, three sets, just be ready to pay."

"Not a problem."

Without another word Momonga led his companions toward the stairs. And almost immediately ran into a problem.

As they walked they were still bathed in the appraising gazes of everyone in the room. Before they got ten feet from the bar a man put his leg in Momonga's path, blocking the way.

Momonga stopped and looked at the man, who looked back with an annoying grin shared by everyone at his table.

Nobody else said anything, either the customers or the innkeeper. Most looked uninterested, while a few watched intently, but it was obvious that everyone was paying close attention.

'Oh for goodness' sake.' Still, it wasn't like he didn't see something like this coming.

After a moment, Momonga gently kicked the leg in his path.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing! That hurt!" The man boiled up from his chair in a rage, muscles bulging, shoving his face into Momonga's mask as he shouted. His iron plate dangled around his neck as he clenched a gauntleted fist.

The other Adventurer was about as tall as Momonga, so he was looking the thug right in the eye before sighing. There really was no point to this, but it had to be done. "So sorry, I didn't see your leg because of my mask, or maybe because it was so small I didn't notice. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?"

The man's face just flushed red as he realized the taunt. "You bastard!"

A gentle cough cut through dangerous atmosphere and then a delicate voice made itself heard.

"Excuse me."

Momonga took a step back as Yuri stepped forward.

The adventurer leered at the beauty before him. "My my, what's this, you have a woman to fight for you? What a brave man. So, how can I help you little lady? You want to make up for your friend's idiocy with a night of companionship? I'm game! Hahaha!"

The eldest sister of the Pleiades gave the idiot a small, sweet smile, and for a moment one would think she didn't understand the situation she was in.

Then her open hand made contact with the adventurer's jaw and he dropped like a puppet with its strings cut onto the table his friends were sitting at, splashing his them all with their own drinks.

As the man's party got to their feet with bellows of anger, Momonga had had enough. A quick wave of his hand was all that was needed.

[Silent Magic- Sleep]

And just like that the other three Adventurers slumped to the ground to join their friend in slumber.

Silence rang out throughout the tavern, but it only lasted a moment before a cheerful laughter chased it away.

Lupusregina openly laughed at the four fallen men. "Hey, mister Innkeeper~, I think these guys had a bit too much to drink you know~? Maybe someone should help them to their bunks?" She broke off into barely concealed giggles afterward.

The Innkeeper was unmoved. He just shrugged. "Sure. Just to be clear though, those guys are just asleep right?" He directed that question at Momonga.

When Momonga nodded, the Innkeeper just picked up his mop and bucket. "Okay, then we don't have any problems. Enjoy your stay."

With another nod the trio made their way to the stairs without any further interruptions, Lupusregina's laughter echoing in their wake.

XXXXXXXXX

As the creaking footsteps of the newcomers faded, the dining room emerged into chatter as a few Adventurers went to check on the fallen.

"Did you even see her touch him!?"

"I didn't even see a blur! One second he was standing, then he was crashing into the table!"

"I blinked and missed it."

"Haha! Old Vargo went down from getting slapped by a girl!"

"To go with just two spellcasters and a Monk though, that woman with the black hair would have to be very strong."

"What about that spell though? That was 'Silent Magic' right? Only person I've ever seen do that had a platinum plate."

"How about that girl in black? What was with that huge thing on her back? Do you think it's hollow?"

"Another group that's going to leap past us in an instant. Dammit!"

That kind of banter was all that could be heard as the unconscious Adventurers were carried upstairs to their bunks. The reaction was one of mixed awe, desire, and fear.

Everyone here was both comrade and competitor, it was only natural to want to know how strong the newcomers were. Even so, just by looking at their equipment they knew that the three who just walked in weren't ordinary people.

The whole confrontation was hardly new, the same thing happened here practically every day. There wasn't a single person in the building who had never been on the receiving end of such a 'baptism'. Even so, nobody here had ever seen the challenge so quickly and easily brushed aside.

Those three would be very powerful, either as enemies or as allies. Of that there could be no doubt.

"So, how are we going to work with those three?"

"Man, flirting with those beauties is probably out of the question."

"If only we could get them into our party…."

"I think you're mistaken sir, they belong in _our_ party."

"I wonder what that guy looks like behind that mask?"

"Having two gorgeous babes like that all to himself? Life isn't fair man."

"I'll listen at their wall tonight. Leave the information gathering to a big-eared thief like me!"

As the chatter continued, the Innkeeper just picked up his mop and bucket and started cleaning up the mess. This whole scene wasn't new to anybody, least of all him, however impressive the newbies might appear to be.

And in the midst of this one young woman only had eyes for the small bottle of blue liquid in front of her, ignorant of all else. She took one glance at the stairs leading up the second floor, letting out a quiet sigh at the usual hazing. It got boring after the first couple of times. But when she turned her gaze back to her own table she couldn't believe the sight that waited for her. A scream ripped itself out of her.

"AAAAAH! Where did it go!?"

The potion she had scrimped and saved money for so long to purchase was nowhere to be found.

And within minutes she was hardly alone in her anger and despair.

XXXXXXXXX

Momonga closed the door behind them with a solid _thud_ and locked it before turning to survey the room they had been given.

It wasn't much.

Two crudely made beds with lumpy mattresses, each one with a chest at the foot. A single window let in sunshine and fresh air.

He made his way over to the window and closed the blinds, wreathing the room in darkness as he quieted the discontent and disappointment in his heart. He wasn't expecting Nazarick level furnishings or cleanliness by any means, not in a godforsaken place like this, but he still didn't like these accommodations at all.

'The sooner we can manage something better, the happier I will be.'

Behind him, Yuri Alpha seemed about as enamored with the room as he was. She scowled at the dirtiness around her with an almost regal disdain before turning to him and adjusting her glasses. "The fact that they assigned you such quarters is completely unacceptable Suzuki-sama. Please, give the order and we will begin cleaning things up immediately."

The Overlord just shook his head and sat down on one of the beds. "There's no need to bother Irri, I don't expect to stay here long in any case. By tomorrow we'll be taking on our first requests."

"So we get to just chill out? Cool!" Lupusregina leaned her massive crosier against the wall before falling back onto the other mattress, stretching out her limbs and luxuriating in the opportunity to relax.

Or at least, she did for a moment or two before coming to a sudden stop, her smile becoming a small frown.

"Is something wrong, Erin?"

The dark skinned maid was silent for several seconds before finally replying. "…This bed really isn't that comfortable."

Momonga just sighed as Yuri visibly restrained herself from chastising her sister for her disrespect. The older sister's rigid posture and frigid glare spoke volumes about how much she wanted to say and how much she was holding back. If Lupusregina had not received specific orders from her own Creator, there was no doubt she would be receiving a lecture to end all lectures.

"Enough. Both of you sit down, we need to talk about our objectives here in this city."

Lupusregina quickly sat up and made room for Yuri to sit beside her, which the Dullahan did with exquisite poise. They both looked over to Momonga with eager anticipation. "Suzuki-sama, we await your orders. Please bestow your wisdom and guidance upon us."

"You have to learn how to drop the honorifics Yuri-nee~"

Yuri looked over at her sister, affronted "You need to learn to-"

"Enough"

Both sisters looked over to Momonga. "Enough, Irri, you need to learn how to address me more casually while we're doing our job here. Erin, you need to use the names we agreed upon while we're in this city. First thing, are we safe to discuss things in this room?"

Lupusregina closed her eyes and tilted her head back, apparently to focus on her hearing. Yuri looked over to the door, squinting her eyes for several moments.

After a short time, both answered that they couldn't detect anybody listening in.

"Good, then I shall explain our objectives here."

"Yes!" Yuri answered with crisp attention, bowing in her seat.

Momonga just stared at her for several moments. "Please stop that. Now, we are here to become Adventurers, and gather fame to the point where everyone knows of us. Once we have become well known, there is no doubt that we will be approached by people in power, and we will be in a position to gather sensitive intelligence on a large number of topics. In addition to that, our work will no doubt allow us to learn numerous secrets. First and foremost among the topics we are looking to pursue is information on other Adventurers, the strongest people in this world. In this Kingdom, we know of two groups of Adventurers who have reached the highest rank, and four more elsewhere. Lucifer's captive has given extensive information on one, but we still need to learn more about the group known as 'Red Drop' here in the Kingdom. We also need to confirm the information we have on the other group, 'Blue Rose'. We may end up fighting one or both of them at some point, and it would not do to be careless. Understood?"

He received two replies in the affirmative, so he continued on. "If possible we should also seek information on the other Adamantite groups we know of, but given our location we'll focus on Red Drop for now. To achieve that end, our first goal is to become famous Adventurers here in this city. This is the goal that all of our current efforts must guide us to. But there are a few problems facing us at this moment." He took a pouch from his belt and upended it over his open palm, catching the small number of silver and copper coins that came spilling out. "We have no money."

"O-ho! Money troubles is it!?"

Both of the maids immediately jumped up and took fighting stances at the sudden voice, while Momonga made a choking noise and practically leapt off the bed at the sudden exclamation coming from right next to him.

All three goggled at the intruder sitting on the bed right next to where Momonga was only a minute ago. And then, the three relaxed as they took in the familiar burly red form whose head almost scraped the ceiling.

Yuri immediately stood up to bow low, and Lupusregina knelt down on the floor in absolute reverence.

"Greetings Tigris Euphrates-sama."

"Greetings oh great Creator."

The red giant lazily waved a hand at the two of them. "Hey there. So Momonga-san, how're you liking this place? Isn't it great?!"

The masked skeleton finally got over the shock of having a ten foot tall giant appear on his bed in time to respond. "Tigris Euphrates-san… how did you get in here? And keep your voice down, we can't let anyone hear you." He quickly looked around. "Yuri, Lupusregina, is there anybody nearby?"

Tigris glanced over at the two of them as they respectfully announced that they were alone, before turning back to Momonga with a big smile. "Relax, we're fine. As for how I got in here, I just followed you in when you opened the door of course. I've been following you three since you left the Adventurer's Guild. Didn't you see me? I was right behind the Innkeeper when you were having your talk. Then, after you got hazed, I took a quick jaunt around the room before joining you up here."

"B, but how? I can see through invisibility, and I didn't see…."

The Efreeti's smile got wider. "Oh, I wasn't invisible. I was just hiding. I _am_ a Rogue you know, you can't expect to find me unless you really try."

That brought Momonga up short. "Wait, so you weren't using invisibility, or silence, or anything, you just went around using stealth and _nobody_ saw you?"

"That's right."

Momonga tried to contemplate how a street full of people, and a room full of Adventurers, could possibly miss a ten foot tall red man wearing all the bright colors Tigris was sporting, and finally decided to not bother. It wasn't worth the headache.

"Anyway, you were saying that we're broke?"

The sudden question broke Momonga out of his funk. "Ah, no, well not exactly. We have loads of YGGDRASIL money sure, but we can't use those coins here without practically announcing that we're from YGGDRASIL. So, for the moment, ah, we don't really have any money. This world's money, I mean."

Tigris' grin got wider as he groped through the air in front of him and pulled a bag out of nowhere. "You sure about that?"

He laid the bag on the floor in front of him, between himself and the kneeling maids. It was big enough that two or three people could easily fit inside, and solid black except for the big white letters on the side that read 'SWAG'.

The thief fished a few pouches out of one pocket, and a few small bottles of blue liquid from another before opening the mouth of the sack, depositing the items as he rummaged around for a moment before pulling out a wooden box about five feet long and two feet wide. He laid it on the bed beside him with one hand, revealing a trio of iron locks built into the wood.

"Well have no fear because Tigris-claus is here! I come bearing gifts!" He flipped open the lid of the box, revealing more than a dozen bulging sacks inside. Momonga immediately spotted the glint of gold and silver at the mouth of the sacks.

As the maids let out breaths of surprise and awe, Momonga felt nothing but trepidation.

"Tigris-san… you didn't rob a bank, did you?"

The giant let out a scoff. "Please, I don't think these people even have banks. The Merchant's Guild handles it whenever a business needs to borrow or store money. The nobles borrow from other nobles, and if the common man wants a loan, he's out in the cold. No, I got all of this from the tax collector's place. I gotta tell ya Momonga-san, these guys don't have a clue what they're doing. They practically begged for this to be taken."

He reached into one sack and took out a massive handful of golden coins. "Anyway, this place is a big trading town on the border between three nations. Between tolls for the roads, tolls for the gates, and tolls and taxes on everything else, this place turns out a lot of cash. Even then, it must be around collection time or something for us to get this much. Here, take it." He grabbed Momonga's gauntleted hands and forced the gold into them, a few loose coins rattling as they fell to the floor.

A bit of fiddling later and the giant handed a small pouch to each of the maids. "Here, this is for you two. Buy yourselves something nice."

Yuri looked taken aback. "A-are you sure Tigris Euphrates-sama? I don't think we've done anything that deserves such a gift from a Supreme Being, much less the fruit of your own labors."

While Yuri was stuttering her excuses, Lupusregina just took the bag with something akin to reverence. "I have already received the greatest possible gift by virtue of my being alive and in your presence, but if my Creator has seen fit to bestow further gifts upon me, it is not my place to judge. Thank you Tigris Euphrates-sama from the bottom of my heart."

Tigris raised an eyebrow at the flowery praise. "Hey, Lupu, you can knock off the flowery speech, okay?"

The Werewolf looked up with a big smile. "You got it Tigris Euphrates-sama." She glanced at her sister. "Hurry up and take the money Yuri-nee, you're being rude by refusing."

Yuri looked at her sister in shock and horror and then bowed low as she took the pouch. "My deepest thanks for your generosity Tigris Euphrates-sama. Please forgive me for my rudeness."

The Supreme Being just waved her off. "It's just twenty gold each, don't worry about it."

Momonga looked up from the pile of gold in his hands. "Are you sure this is okay Tigris-san? We don't know how good they are at crime investigation. We can't risk them finding out about Nazarick by hunting you down."

The giant let out a brief chuckle. "Yeah, sure, if they're as good at finding things as they are at keeping them safe I'll have to sleep with one eye open. Even with a handicap those jokers didn't have a clue I was there until after I was long gone."

The skeleton tilted his head. "Handicap?"

Tigris put on a big smile. "I'm wearing freaking tap-shoes man." He tapped his heel against the floor, making a distinctive _tap, tap, tap._

Now that Momonga looked, Tigris wasn't wearing his usual footwear, but black and white shoes that looked like something out of an antique shop.

Momonga just shook his head. "Honestly, you guys are taking this way too lightly. We can't let our guards down or we'll end up getting ambushed."

"Hey, hey, I _was_ careful. I've been staking this place out for two days, and nobody, not _one person_ , ever noticed me or what I did. Not one! I've waltzed through the most heavily guarded places, painting the town red, and nobody notices anything until way later! I haven't seen anybody with a level higher than the low twenties, no matter where I looked. These guys are easy marks, relax."

Still, the skeleton was unconvinced. "Just be careful Tigris-san. Anyway, where's Lucifer-san? Isn't he supposed to be out here too?"

Tigris let out a low laugh. "Yeah, he was here earlier. He went back to Nazarick a while ago; he said he can't stand this place."

Momonga made his way over to the other bunk and sat down, still holding the numerous gold coins in his cupped hands. "Why'd he say that? What happened?"

The thief leaned back against the wall. "He couldn't find a theatre."

If Momonga could raise an eyebrow, he would have. "What?"

Tigris started laughing again. "No theatre, no public libraries, no museums, no art galleries, nothing relating to the entertainment industry at all except for taverns and brothels. You should have seen him, he couldn't believe it. He was so pissed he went and chucked a bunch of rocks through all the temple's stained glass windows."

"He did what!?"

The genie shrugged. "He went invisible and vandalized the temple. If you hear about it later pretend you don't know anything. Anyway, that calmed him down long enough to go find some smugglers. Don't ask me where he found them or how, he just found them. Anyway, he brought the smugglers back to Nazarick to answer some questions and swore that the next time he came to this town he'd burn it to the ground. He called it a 'rat's nest of a town that this bunch of illiterate barbarians thoroughly deserve' and stormed off. I told him that this place supposedly has a good restaurant, to try and get him to change his mind and he said he'd give it a try. So we'll see how that goes. I just hope that it's up to his standards or he really might try to burn this city down."

Momonga could hardly believe what he was hearing. "Do you really think he'd try to destroy the city just because it doesn't have a theatre?"

Tigris nodded without hesitation. "Not for a lack of a theatre, no, but for a lack of what he perceives as culture? Probably. For a lack of high art, a lack of refinement, a lack of beauty, yeah I think he might do it. He might wait until there's nothing left here to benefit us but he'd probably do it, that guy's crazy man."

The skeleton silently cursed Lucifer's troublemaking before looking up toward his friend. "What about this restaurant? Do you think it'll help?"

All he got in response was a snort. "Not a chance in hell, not unless he lowers his standards. If he does… maybe? It'll probably have things he's never tried before, so that'll probably help. I wouldn't put money on it though."

While Momonga silently stewed over the possibility of a guild member going on a personal crusade, Tigris looked over toward the two maids. "How about you two? You have anything to add?"

The two maids had remained silent this entire time while the masters were speaking. Now that they had been ordered to give their opinions, Yuri Alpha chimed in "I am sure that whatever decision that the Supreme Beings reach regarding this city shall be the correct one Tigris Euphrates-sama. If Lucifer-sama believes that this place deserves to be destroyed, then I am in no position to say whether he is right or wrong. If ordered to destroy this place, I shall obey and carry out the order with all my strength!"

"Uh…huh, and you Lupu?"

The brown skinned maid bowed her head lower. "I am of a similar opinion to my older sister, honored Creator. Whatever decision the Supreme Beings make shall no doubt be the correct one. If the humans of this city seek to deny the decision to destroy them then we, your loyal servants, shall remind them of the errors of their ways and ensure that they receive their due punishment for daring to defy you before they are sent to their deaths."

The Efreeti raised an eyebrow at the response. "Again with the formal talk. Honestly, you weren't like this before…."

Tigris sent a suspicious glance toward Momonga before looking down at the bowing maid. "Lupusregina, be honest with me. Did Momonga do anything to you? Give you strange orders? Make you do anything weird?"

Momonga's non-existent heart leapt into his throat at the sudden accusation. 'Wait, what?! I didn't do anything!'

Then, to Momonga's horror, Lupusregina silently looked off to one side, refusing to meet her Creator's eyes. Her shoulders shook, once, before she spoke, quietly, hesitantly "W-well, Tigris Euphrates-sama… Momonga-sama, he… he…." She let out a quiet sob.

While the skeleton's jaw dropped at the sudden response, the red giant turned to face him. Momonga almost quailed at the fury he could see in Tigris' yellow eyes as black smoke started curling away from the giant's flesh. Yuri's eyes went wide at the sudden display and she slowly backed away as Tigris spoke.

"Momonga…"

The skeleton worked his jaw but couldn't say anything, his thoughts scrambled at the murderous fury directed at him.

"What the hell did you do to Lupusregina!?" The voice was quiet enough not to be overheard, but the wrath contained in that quiet voice would have made Satoru Suzuki soil himself if it were ever directed at him.

"W-wait, wait, Tigris-san! I didn't do anything! I swear!" He jerked his hands up as hundreds of gold coins fell to the ground and scattered in every direction. His mask slipped off and dispelled his illusion of a face in his panic "It's a misunderstanding! I promise! I didn't do anything!"

Momonga was so flustered and so busy trying to defend himself from the strange accusations he didn't know what else to do. He had no idea what he did to Lupusregina. He quickly went over every minute that they had been together, trying to remember if he gave any order that would get such a response. He felt sick to his stomach with fear and worry and guilt that he might have don't something to hurt her without noticing it.

He was so frantic it took him several seconds to notice the sly glance Tigris sent toward the shuddering maid, and to see that same glance returned.

It was only when Tigris stopped smoking and started smiling a sly, smug grin that he finally realized what was going on. And it was only reinforced when Lupusregina started smiling too.

Seeing the two of them there, side by side, their expressions were so identical it was eerie.

Momonga was still trying to get his thoughts in order, his jaw was working, but no sound emerged.

Tigris held out one hand to the maid, palm up. When Lupusregina enthusiastically slapped his palm, he knew for certain that he had been had. And then his passive skill kicked in as Master and Servant alike started laughing.

"D-did you see his face? He looked like a landed fish!"

"I-I can't breathe su~!"

"Didn't I tell you it would work?"

"I w-was foolish, hahahahaha, truly foolish to doubt my Creator! Even Momonga-sama cannot resist you~!"

Yuri Alpha studiously ignored her sister as she fell to the ground clutching her sides. Instead, the Dullahan just quietly knelt by Momonga's feet to start picking up the numerous coins that her master had dropped in his near panic, her face an iron mask.

Momonga himself was still trying to get his head around how he had just been pranked.

Tigris' laughter finally died down as he stood up, magically shrinking to avoid putting his head through the ceiling and making the bed give a baleful _creak_. "Ahh, you really need to lighten up man. Learn to take a joke. With that said, fun's over, I've got to get going. Have fun with the Adventurer gig, let me know if you find anything worth our notice. I'll do the same on my end." He closed the coin box and returned it to the bag, and then the bag went back into Tigris' inventory.

"Let's see, anything else, anything else, umm, Aura is solidifying her rule in the forest. There were no problems there last I heard, all three monsters have fallen in line, along with their subordinates, and Mare's using his magic to build her a palace in the trees. The sentries hidden around that village haven't reported anything yet. Demiurge is moving to scout the city of E-Pespel before starting his job, and Sebas and Solution should arrive in the capital today. Shalltear and Cocytus are defending Nazarick itself. No real news from any of them. I… think that's it for now."

He walked over the prone and giggling Lupusregina and put a hand on the door before turning his head to face the three of them. "Any other last second questions before I go? Last chance."

Momonga just shook his head, a wry smile forming on his face. Or at least it would if he still had skin. "I have one question. You said Lucifer-san hates this place. What do you think of it? Do you hate it too?"

The genie looked up at the ceiling for a moment, a contemplative look on his face. "Well, I can't say I love it. It's too primitive and too dirty for that. But I can't say I really hate it either. For all that the people are stupid, ill educated, and pathetically frail, they have one redeeming feature."

"And what's that?"

The grin returned to the giant's face. "There are _So. Many. Blonde girls._ And they're all smoking hot! Any other questions?"

Momonga felt his mind go blank at the sudden and shameless admission. 'Huh… was Tigris-san always this way?' It seemed more along the lines of what he would hear from his friend Peroroncino.

The skeleton started to be washed away in memories as he readjusted his mask and leaned back against the wall behind him. "That's all. Just promise you'll be careful Tigris-san. If there are any Players out there, they're bound to want to help humanity out. If they find out what you're doing…."

Tigris' smile turned into something bestial. "If they have a problem with what I do, then they can try and stop me. They'll fail like everyone else before them. Alright, I'm outta here. Bye you three."

Lupusregina waved from where she was on the floor. "Bye Creator!"

Yuri Alpha bowed from where she was knelt on the floor. "Farewell Tigris Euphrates-sama, and safe travels."

Momonga just gave the giant a wave as he stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind him.

Once Tigris was gone, the skeleton sighed and lay back on the bed. He didn't need rest, but there were times when the remnants of the human in him, the spirit of Suzuki Satoru exclaimed that he was exhausted and demanded a reprieve. After the shock he just experienced, he felt that now was one of those times.

From his reclining position he pulled a pair of leather bags from his item box and handed them down to Yuri as she resumed collecting the fallen coins. "Here, put about half of the money in each bag."

As the Dullahan dutifully took the containers and continued her task, the cleric of the group finally got to her feet and stretched. "Hey, Suzuki, I'm going to go have a look around this place, do you mind?"

Momonga sat up from where he was laid at the question. It was enough of a break, and the bed wasn't all that comfortable anyway. "No, you can't go. Not until we know for sure that it's safe out there. Tigris Euphrates-san may take it lightly, but that doesn't change the fact that this place is still enemy territory. We can't afford to relax. I'm going to go have a quick look around, there are a few places that were mentioned in earlier reports that I want to have a look at. You two stay here and ward off any intruders. I don't think that there are any vulnerabilities in our defenses here, but stay alert just in case."

The two maids answered in the affirmative as he made his way to the door.

As he left the room and made his way down the stairs, he couldn't help but think of the situation they were all in.

Sure, it wasn't perfect. This strange set of circumstances wasn't like anything they had encountered before, and the stakes were higher than ever. But they were a Guild, they were still Ainz Ooal Gown. He had no doubt that they would overcome any trial that came before them, just as they had before.

'It may not have been exactly as I wanted, but no matter what happens it's better than doing this all on my own.'

XXXXXXXXX

As the Supreme Beings left them alone, the pair of maids relaxed.

Or rather, Yuri Alpha relaxed. Her sister was already as relaxed as she could be.

Yuri had no idea what just happened.

She was fairly sure that it was improper, whatever it was, but as it was the action of a Supreme Being she had no right to say anything about it, or even to try to judge whether it was right or wrong.

But she was _certain_ that it was improper for Lupusregina to try to deceive a Supreme Being, especially Momonga-sama himself, the way that she did. But if she did it at the bidding of Tigris Euphrates-sama, a Supreme Being and the Werewolf's own creator, then Yuri couldn't say anything about it. If Yamaiko-sama had told her to, Yuri was certain that she would have done the same thing.

'Still' she thought to herself as she watched her younger sister close her eyes and stretch out on the bunk. 'I don't think I'd have taken such obvious relish in the act.'

Yuri just focused on completing the task assigned to her and continued to collect the dropped coins. Her sister could be trusted to ensure nobody snuck up on them. As a Werewolf she would no doubt hear anyone who tried to sneak up on them.

But no matter how hard she focused, it couldn't exorcise the unease in her heart at the disrespect her sister had shown. But even if it made her uneasy, it was ordered by another Supreme Being, so she had no choice but to accept it.

Stuck in her quandary, the Dullahan reasserted her focus on the task at hand.

'Haaah, why are all my little sisters like this?'

And while Yuri fought her inner torment Lupusregina just relaxed on the bed as best she could, reveling in the newly created memories and ignorant of her older sister's turmoil.

XXXXXXXXX

The next morning, the trio returned to the Adventurer's Guild once more.

The front door opened into a large lobby area across from a counter where a trio of young women greeted the Adventurers around them with bright smiles. All around the room were warriors in full plate armor wielding numerous weapons, wiry and agile fighters sporting bows, people draped in priestly garb and sporting numerous holy symbols, and arcane spellcasters wielding staves and wands.

To Momonga's left was a set of double doors, and to his right was a notice board that covered half the wall and was covered in numerous parchments.

Thankful for his friend's foresight and assistance, he made his way through the crowd around the board to have a look at the jobs himself.

All the while he could feel numerous eyes sizing him up, and the copper plate around his neck all but burned. It was no different than the inn yesterday. But while they were sizing him up, he evaluated the men and women around him in turn.

There was a wide variety of job classes evident, and practically everyone in the room was wearing a plate of silver or gold around their necks. He couldn't help but feel a bit out of place, but he forged on undeterred. They had come here for a reason.

When he finally stood before the board, he once again gave silent thanks to Herohero for his foresight. Without him, Momonga was certain he would have forgotten that he was unable to read this country's language, even if he could speak it thanks to some strange phenomenon. He quickly browsed the papers before him.

'GOBLIN TRIBE SUBJUGATION'

 _A tribe of goblins several dozen strong has been harassing the village of Triet a day and a half northwest of E-Rantel. The tribe has been scouted and is confirmed to be approximately sixty to seventy goblins strong, with a small number of wolf riders and ogres. No spellcasters were spotted during the scouting, but for a tribe this size it should be assumed that there is at least one Goblin Shaman. The strength of the tribe's Chieftain is unknown, but judging by the size of the tribe he shouldn't exceed difficulty level 45._ _This would put the difficulty at_ GOLD _rank, but when one considers the mobility and keen senses of the wolves, the presence of ogres, and the possibility of magical interference as well as the number of ordinary goblins, it becomes necessary to increase the strength of the response accordingly._

DIFFICULTY: PLATINUM (MULTIPLE GOLD PARTIES WORKING TOGETHER MAY BE CONSIDERED)

REWARD: 120 GOLD COINS

'Hmm, rewarding, but not exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for.' He looked at the next paper.

'WANTED: MANTICORE WINGS'

 _Local Armorsmith Conda Saine is seeking new material to experiment with for better leather armor. We are seeking the wings from two fully grown Manticores from within the Great Forest of Tob. Anyone seeking to undertake this quest should be aware that Manticores are difficulty level 50. They are capable of flight, can fire armor piercing spikes from their tails to a distance of sixty meters, and are intelligent enough to know when they are being hunted. There have been examples of Manticores setting up ambushes before. Party members with forest based classes such as Druids and Rangers are recommended._

DIFFICULTY: GOLD

REWARD: 40 GOLD COINS AND PROMISES OF DISCOUNT FOR CONDA'S MERCHANDISE

'It's not bad, but I don't really want to start off with a fetch quest. Next.'

'KATZE PLAINS UNDEAD EXTERMINATION'

 _As we all know, the Undead are an abomination and must be destroyed for the sake of all living things. The Katze Plains, being the Undead spawning ground that they are, must be regularly patrolled and the Undead regularly culled to prevent stronger Undead from rising. Applicants are to spend one week patrolling the Plains, and must return with evidence of no fewer than one hundred destroyed Undead. If stronger Undead are encountered, prioritize escape to ensure that this information can properly be spread. Ask Guild Receptionist for most recent information on Undead spotted on the Plains._

DIFFICULTY: SILVER

REWARD: 15 GOLD COINS (Potentially more depending on number and type of Undead slain)

Momonga looked over the board and saw that there were several papers showing that same request. It was probably because they expected and welcomed several parties doing the same job. 'That must be the equivalent of a reoccurring quest then.'

'FIND THE PHANTOM THIEF'

 _For several days an unknown individual has been ransacking honest businesses, homes, and governmental offices. Crimes include but are not limited to: The theft of potions from several local herbalists, the theft of weaponry and armor from local artisans, the theft of documents and stored coin from the Merchant's Guild, the theft of military rations from the City Storehouses, the theft of imported goods from trading caravans resting in the city, numerous incidents of pick-pocketing, and the theft of tax money justly collected from the people of E-Rantel and those seeking to enter our fair city or use the Kingdom's roads. Local guards and investigators have found nothing, suggesting the possibility of this thief being something inhuman. Regardless of species, this criminal must be brought to justice! Parties sporting individuals with access to Divination magic and/or exceptional thieves are a must. Reward may be augmented if stolen goods are found and returned._

DIFFICULTY: GOLD

REWARD: 100 GOLD COINS AND POTENTIAL ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

Momonga stared at that poster for several seconds before he recovered from his shock.

He quickly glanced over the board. Sure enough, there were plenty of parchments bearing the same request. Whoever put forward that job, probably the local government, didn't want just one group of Adventurers. They wanted a bunch of them. And as he watched in horror, several different papers were snatched from the board and carried over to the counter, their holders filled with evident determination and purpose.

'Why do they look so eager? Hmm, I guess the reward is considered lucrative for its difficulty.'

He tried not to flinch as he saw another poster for that job taken by a man with a platinum plate. 'Tigris-san, I hope you know what you're doing.'

The masked skeleton tried to think quickly about what to do. Should he take the job to try and sabotage it? But there was no way to tell how many teams there would be, and trying to ruin a request wasn't the best way to start his Adventuring career….

After several moments, he decided to just warn his friend when he had a spare moment. Other than that, he would trust that the Efreeti could handle himself. He was a level one hundred thief with a magic item to scramble magical surveillance. Odds were excellent that they'd never find him.

He hoped.

Upon deciding to put that aside he continued his search for appropriate work.

'FIND THE TEMPLE VANDAL'

…

'God dammit Lucifer-san.' Next.

'E-RANTEL GRAVEYARD PATROL'

 _Given the size of the local cemetery and the influx of new cadavers given recent conflict with the Baharuth Empire, the graveyard of E-Rantel is an Undead hot spot. Regular patrols are needed to exterminate the weak undead and prevent the rise of more powerful creatures. Most likely monsters to be encountered will be Skeletons and Zombies. Applicants are advised to bring multiple weapon types, and parties with a Divine Spellcaster capable of using 'Turn Undead' will have an advantage. Remains of at least twenty different slain Undead will be required to receive payment._

DIFFICULTY: COPPER

REWARD: 8 SILVER COINS

Momonga looked at that for several moments, especially the reward.

'I don't think so.'

'E-RANTEL SEWER PATROL'

'Not just no. Hell no.'

He spent several more minutes scanning the board before finally spotting something interesting.

'FOREST DRAKE SUBJUGATION'

 _Local herds have been devastated by a dangerous beast. The sheep, cows, and horses of the villages of Ede, Osso, and Quain have been savaged by this dangerous monster. The Guild has spent several weeks investigating the cause and have determined the culprit to be a Forest Drake. As a lesser cousin of the Green Dragon, the creature is highly dangerous. Estimated difficulty level is 75. Forest Drakes are capable of flight, and of swimming. They are immune to sleep spells, acid damage, and paralysis effects. They can breathe underwater for an indefinite period of time and are capable of using their breath weapon underwater to attack targets on land. The breath weapon of a Forest Drake is a ball of acid that explodes into a caustic mist on impact with any solid surface. Forest Drakes have been known to use the thick cloud produced by this ability to hide themselves, conceal their movements, and attack weaker targets. Three times a day, a Forest Drake can use a special ability to enhance its physical capabilities for two minutes, beware of sudden bursts of speed and increased strength. This Forest Drake is believed to make its nest near a pond in the forest south of E-Rantel. Applicants are advised to have methods to attack an underwater target or to coerce it to surface, a way to deal damage if the creature takes to the air, and a way to deal with acid damage and impaired vision._

DIFFICULTY: MYTHRIL

REWARD: 180 GOLD COINS

If Momonga could smile with his skeletal face, he would be smiling now. The illusion of a face he wore under his mask was definitely wearing an expression of joy as he read the particulars of this request. This was exactly what he was looking for: a dangerous request against a single, powerful monster.

He took a deep breath, even though he didn't breathe, to steady his nerves as he took the paper from the board. What he was about to do clashed with everything he knew as a salaryman, and it clashed with his understanding of what was socially acceptable. But to get the results he wanted he had to quash that feeling of shame and forge onward. With a heavy heart he gathered his resolve and then took the parchment over towards the counter.

"I would like to take this job."

The girl's face betrayed her confusion as she looked over the parchment and took a glance at the plate around his neck. Then she gave a bitter smile and responded "I'm sorry sir, but this job is only for mythril plate Adventurers."

"I know. That's why I took it."

Momonga's calm, unwavering tone made the girl doubt herself for a moment, but she immediately fell back on an obviously rehearsed line.

"I'm sorry but-"

"I would like to take this job."

"Even if you ask that, I'm afraid that the rules clearly state-"

"Those rules are pointless. I'm fed up with having to prove myself with easy, pathetic jobs for a few pieces of copper before my rank-up examinations."

The Guild receptionist finally regained her resolve. "If you take a job like this and fail, many people will lose their lives." Her firm tone seemed to encompass the silent opinion of those who worked hard to abide by the rules and qualify normally.

Momonga's responding snort immediately drew the hostile glares of the receptionist and every Adventurer in the room. He wasn't surprised, he was the newcomer casually disdaining the regulations that they all took to heart and let rule their lives.

As an Undead being, Momonga felt nothing about this. But the remnants of Suzuki Satoru and his salaryman sensibilities were screaming out in worry and demanding that he apologize to everyone.

Suzuki Satoru hated people who dismissed the ideas of others without giving solutions of their own, and more than that he hated shitty customers that didn't know anything. Right now, he fell squarely in the latter category and it was everything Momonga could do not to take back everything he said and bow before authority.

But he could not back down. It was his idea to become an Adventurer, and his friends had given him all the advice he needed to succeed at forging the reputation of a hero. Dealing with this situation should be easy. It was time for some shock and awe.

"The woman in black behind me is my companion Erin. She is a cleric of great power, capable of using Sixth Tier magic."

The receptionist's mouth dropped open in naked shock as she turned to look at Lupusregina, and a shudder of collective gasps seemed to ripple throughout the room. Momonga wasn't surprised at the reaction at all. According to what Lucifer-san had learned from Nigun, the Third Tier was the highest that most spellcasters could reach in this world, and those capable of casting those spells were few and far between. People capable of using stronger magic were beyond merely rare, using magic of the Fourth and Fifth Tiers was the stuff of legend for most people. And, to the best of Nigun's considerable knowledge, only one man in the world had ever managed to reach the Sixth Tier.

For these people, having someone capable of that kind of magic in front of their eyes was an unbelievable event.

Of course, Momonga was prepared for what came next as the girl at the counter recovered herself. Her stern look returned.

"There's no point in trying to tell lies like that. It will only get good people killed for no good reason, you should be ashamed of yourself."

It was only natural that they wouldn't believe that kind of claim at first, but he had no intention of just giving up.

"I'm not lying about her prowess, nor would I lie about my own. I myself am an arcane spellcaster capable of casting Sixth Tier spells. My third companion, Irri, is a warrior of similar strength."

He watched for a moment as the girls' doubt turned to anger, but he cut her off before she could start shouting.

"I understand that you doubt my claims, but did you believe that Fluder Paradyne would be the only man ever to reach that pinnacle? If you doubt what I say, neither of us would have trouble demonstrating our abilities. All we'd need is some clear space and we'd be happy to demonstrate our mastery of magic. Do you still doubt my claim?"

The receptionist began to falter, and he felt the eyes of everyone in the room roaming over him and his equipment, dubious of his words.

Adventurers would wear equipment that matched their abilities. What Momonga was wearing was nowhere near as good as his normal Divine gear, and the Pleiades with him were also dressed down, Yuri more than Lupusregina, but their gear wasn't insignificant. Between his distinctive equipment, the beauty of his companions, and their willingness to demonstrate their strength, it made his claim much more persuasive.

Everyone started looking at the three of them with different eyes.

Momonga continued on "I'm tired to taking on pointless repetitive work, I want to take on a higher ranked job. If strength is the issue, then we have plenty of it, so could you please let us take it?"

The hostility that surrounded the three of them was starting to fade, gradually being replaced by a sense of awe. He heard all kinds of mutterings in those moments, things like 'Is he for real?', 'Sixth Tier…', and 'If he's that strong then I can't blame him', and similar comments.

The receptionist was clearly torn. She was biting her bottom lip as she glanced at Momonga and his companions in turn. And all the while the other two receptionists were staring at her, saying nothing and letting her handle the problem herself.

Finally, she broke and bowed low.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot make that kind of decision. Please wait here while I get the Guild master."

Momonga smiled in his heart as he saw the girl scurry towards the doors leading further in and vanished. It seemed things were going just as they had planned.

That was when a voice sounded behind him.

"Hey, if you're looking for something more challenging than the copper requests, why not try helping us with our job?"

"What?" Momonga turned to look at the person who spoke. It was a group of four, with silver plates dangling around their necks.

One of the four, who was dressed like a warrior, spoke up. "I'll be honest with you, there's no way that they'll let you take a request like that. The receptionist might have to kick the question up the line, but the answer will still be the same in the end. They can't afford to bend the rules for anybody; it'll just draw repercussions from the Guilds in other cities. So why don't you work together on a job with us?"

The masked skeleton quickly ran through the possibilities in his head. 'From what Lucifer-san told me, the Guild is bound to bend the rules for me after a demonstration of power. Could that be wrong?'

His guildmates' words came to mind immediately. 'Listen Momonga, if you want to make a splash then you have to go all the way. Don't downplay yourself more than you absolutely have to, pointless humility will only get people to take advantage of you. Was Beowulf unnecessarily humble, or Alexander, or Achilles, or Odysseus, or Heracles, or Cu Chulainn, or Manawydan Fab Llyr? The answer is no. A certain level of arrogance is expected from a hero, it's a necessary character trait. You never heard the tale of how Heracles got treated like a doormat did you? Sure, he had moments where he bowed his head, but even then the people he was bowing to were terrified of him.'

Lucifer continued on to say 'Talent is extremely important around here, talent and power. A Third Tier spellcaster is a rare and precious treasure, someone like that is sure to turn heads. Anything beyond that is practically a living fable, Fourth and Fifth Tier magic is what you hear about legendary heroes using, not something that regular people, or even most Adventurers, ever get to deal with. Not unless it's being used by an enemy, like a Lich or something. And Sixth Tier magic is all but unheard of, there's only one guy in the world who's supposed to be able to use it in human territory. If you go in and prove to be his equal, and if Lupusregina shows similar prowess with divine magic, they will bend. Over. Backwards. For you. They might play coy and reluctant, don't let it fool you. They'll be suspicious at first, hesitant to believe, that's fine. But once you show them something that's clearly Sixth Tier magic they'll have to be the world's biggest idiots to let you out of their grasp. They'll want you to stay badly enough that they'll give favors they'd never consider otherwise. Take advantage of that and get everything you can.'

It… sounded convincing. At least Momonga thought so. He originally figured that a hero should be humble to a fault, but maybe he was wrong? When someone threw citation after citation at him to prove their point, and all he had to go on was his own gut feelings, it made his own words feel hollow and ill-conceived.

It felt like times when he was working in the office and attended presentations for new products, and how the presenter had answers to every question asked of him with barely a moment of thought. It made his doubts about what he was being told fade.

'I just wish that I knew what he was talking about with those various heroes.' The name Heracles sort of rang a bell, but he never heard of any of the others Lucifer rattled off, and he knew nothing about their legends or what they did. But neither Herohero or Tigris Euphrates said anything to contradict him, so Momonga just took the information given as fact without looking any further into it.

So, if Lucifer-san was right, then the Guild would certainly bend the rules if he pushed. After he proved that he was telling the truth of course. They wouldn't want to let a rare talent go somewhere else. It would be like letting an incredibly talented employee get head hunted by another company. He could understand that.

'But, maybe the Guild master is a prideful idiot that would let someone like that go just to stand on principle? It's impossible to tell before I meet him. But, if that IS the case, it's better to leave some options open. Plus, if I do work with them, it would let me build relationships and ask questions during the job.'

With that in mind, he made his decision and slowly nodded.

"More challenging work is exactly what I'm looking for. I hope you don't mind if I ask to hear the details before I make a decision?"

After hearing his response, the young warrior called one of the other receptionists and had them led into a private room.

XXXXXXXXX

I think I'm going to call it here.

Originally this chapter was supposed to be bigger, but it was starting to get to an uncomfortable length so I'm going to be splitting this into two. Hope that nobody minds, but I think that over seventeen thousand words is more than long enough for a decent chapter.

I'm kind of looking forward to this next bit. This chapter, and I suppose the next chapter, will be the last parts where I'm constrained by canon to any degree. Even now you can see that things won't be going how they did in canon in a variety of different ways, and after the next chapter it will be all original content. The joy of freedom. I can only hope that you all enjoy the direction that the story will head from here on out.

For those who are wondering, yes Lupusregina IS using some of her actual Pleiades equipment. Not all of it, but some, compared to Yuri who is definitely using equipment less potent than normal. Momonga didn't feel right telling Lupusregina to use the weaker stuff, and was allowed to pick her own equipment as long as it was weaker than what she normally used. And as a result she kept some things from her normal load-out. Yuri was issued equipment Momonga thought was appropriate for what she would be doing. But even if it is a step down, what Yuri and Lupusregina are using here is equipment that wouldn't be out of place for a level fifty Player. As compared to Narberal in canon who had no special equipment at all. Momonga's guildmates convinced him to actually try to make the group thing work, as opposed to canon where Narberal is all but an accessory and Momonga does his best to hog the limelight to himself and live a hero fantasy.

Now then, for this chapter's trivia topic

ADVENTURERS

When one thinks of Adventurers, one most likely thinks of wandering heroes who accept numerous quests, explore mysterious locations, and fight dangerous monsters. When it comes to the Adventurers of the New World, this description would be two thirds correct.

Adventurers receive their jobs from the Adventurers' Guild, whose job it is to receive requests, investigate them to determine difficulty, and ensure that as few deaths happen as possible. They are also responsible for ensuring that the Adventurers get paid their proper due.

While they take on numerous kinds of work, such as gathering rare materials and guarding important people, and they DO occasionally explore unexplored locations to spread the influence of humanity, they are mostly known for being anti-monster mercenaries. Fighting monsters requires a variety of different means of attack and defense, and it's a job that most soldiers cannot hope to replicate, so to deal with non-human threats the people of the New World turn to the Adventurers to deal with the problem. However, in order to stay neutral from national and international politics, Adventurers tend to stay out of human-on-human confrontations. Exceptions may be made for criminals, but depending on the strength of the criminal group in question the Adventurer's Guild may decide to stay out of it.

Of course, by that same token, in nations where the military CAN handle the threat of monsters, the prestige of the Adventuring profession dwindles. There are no Adventurers in the Slane Theocracy, and in the Baharuth Empire the Adventurers are losing status.

Those in power dislike armed groups that do not bow to that power, so while they are generally among the strongest people in the world, and the higher ranked Adventurers have great fame, an Adventurer doesn't have much of the way of real power over the nation that they live in.

All Adventurers are immediately identifiable by a metal plate that they wear around their necks. These plates are provided by the Adventurer's Guild, and the type of metal that the plate is made of indicates the Adventurer's power and status. From weakest to strongest, the ranks are as follows: Copper, Iron, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Mythril, Orichalcum, and Adamantite.

An Adventurer can increase his or her rank by two methods. The first is to pass examinations and tests to increase their rank after a certain amount of time and completed requests, and the second is to accomplish great deeds that would be considered worthy of an increase in rank.

Adventurers demand very high prices for their work and the strongest ones are considered heroes and showered with fame, but it is a very dangerous profession. Numerous Adventurers die before they become truly strong, so many with the talent to become Adventurers choose some other path in life.

In the Re-Estize Kingdom, there are approximately three thousand Adventurers, only six hundred of which are ranked Platinum or higher

Now, next up is today's character sheet. A character that's obviously going to have a bit more presence here than she does in canon.

 **YURI ALPHA**

 **Big sister of the Battle Maids**

 **Alignment-** 150- Good

 **Job-** Battle Maid Sub-Leader

 **Residence-** Great Tomb of Nazarick, Ninth Floor, Maid's Room

 **Racial Level- 11**

Zombie Lv.10

Dullahan Lv.1

 **Job Level- 40**

Striker Lv.10

Single Blow Lv.5

Cook Lv.1

Others

 **HP:** 55

 **MP:** 12

 **Phys. Atk:** 57

 **Phys. Def:** 36

 **Agility:** 51

 **Mag. Atk:** 0

 **Mag. Def:** 35

 **Resistance:** 37

 **Special Ability:** 36

 **Total:** 319

One of the few NPCs of Nazarick that has a positive Alignment, she was created by Yamaiko to be the big sister of the Battle Maids Pleiades. Yuri is specialized in close combat, designed to close in and beat the enemy down. Very caring towards others, but at the end of the day she's still an NPC of Nazarick and will not hesitate to carry out the orders of the Supreme Beings.

I think that just about does it. I hope everybody enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you again with chapter eleven.


	11. Chapter 11

Ok…this… took a while. Sorry about that.

You've waited long enough, I won't put a bunch of Author's Notes right at the start. On with the chapter and I hope that you enjoy it.

XXXXXXXXX

It wasn't anything fancy, just a room with a wooden table and a number of wooden chairs. Momonga took his seat, with Yuri and Lupusregina sitting on either side of him, while the Adventurers took their seats across from them.

Momonga took note of how the four spaced themselves out and sat in positions where it would be easy to draw their weapons at a moment's notice. Silver was only the third rank from the bottom in the Adventurer hierarchy, but these four had definitely gone through some dangerous events to gain that kind of awareness. To him they were all quite young, probably under twenty, but none of them gave off any hints of childishness. Only calm professionalism.

"Now, before we start talking about work, we should probably introduce ourselves first." The one who spoke was the same warrior from before. He had the same blonde hair and blue eyes common in the Kingdom, and was dressed in banded armor with strips of metal held together with metallic thread over a chain backing.

"I am the leader of the Adventurer team 'Swords of Darkness', Peter Mork. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. This fellow here is Lukeluther Volve, our eyes and ears."

The man next to Peter nodded in response. He was blonde with brown eyes, wearing leather armor. Unlike the somewhat burly Peter he was slender and long of limb, with a wiry musculature.

"To my left is our Druid Dyne Woodwonder. He's good with healing spells and nature magic, and he knows his way around herbalism too. However, I doubt he holds a candle to your friend there when it comes to the healing arts if your claims are true."

"Pleased to meet you! I hope to learn much during our time together!" boomed the burly, barbaric looking man. He was clad in furs and sported a full, bushy beard with long blonde hair. He kept several pouches and bags at his belt and the whole area around him smelled of grass and unknown plants.

"And, finally, the brains of our team, the spellcaster Ninya."

"Pleased to meet you."

Where the other three were tanned from long hours in the sun, the fourth member of the group was pale. Between his complexion and his auburn hair he was noticeably distinct from his comrades. From first appearances, as well as his youthful features and higher voice, he seemed to be the youngest of the group.

Unlike the others, who wore various kinds of armor, Ninya wore only a leather robe with various pouches and trinkets kept at his belt, and kept a long wooden staff leaned against the wall behind him.

Taking everything in, Momonga concluded that he was most likely an arcane spellcaster like himself.

"But, Peter, do you mind not using that weird nickname?"

"Huh? But I think it's a good one, don't you?"

Momonga had no clue what was going on. "You have a nickname?" Did that mean something here?

Lukeluther put his arm around Ninya's shoulders and ruffled his hair. "Yeah, this guy here's a talent holder, a super genius spellcaster! Bow before his might!"

The young man quickly extracted himself, face burning red. "Would you stop it!? Like what I can do can compare to someone who can use Sixth Tier magic."

Momonga quietly observed the horsing around, secretly delighted that he had a live example of a Talent holder right in front of him.

That piece of information didn't come from Nigun, but rather from the rank and file members of the Sunlight Scripture. Talents were a bit like Martial Arts, something unique to this world. They weren't entirely uncommon, about one in two hundred people had them, but they had a wide variety of different effects.

All the while Yuri and Lupusregina kept their silence, watching the four of them just like Momonga himself was. Yuri was as prim and proper as she always was, but Lupusregina was starting to let a smile onto her face. Momonga was beginning to learn that that could mean trouble.

Ninya quickly got his hair back in order. "And while I may have a Talent, it's hardly anything special. I just got lucky that I got something useful."

"Oh…." Momonga grew even more interested, and strained to listen to the banter.

Talents were received at birth and could not be modified or changed. As a result, it was entirely possible that someone might have a Talent but could never put it to practical use. For example, among the Sunlight Scripture there were Talents such as Nigun's ability to strengthen summoned monsters. The rank and file members had a few Talents among them, like being able to increase the speed of mounts, being able to speed up the harvest by several days, and being able to predict the next day's weather with 70% accuracy.

But if someone had a Talent for strengthening summoned monsters, but was incapable of learning magic to summon monsters, it would go to waste. Most people with Talents ended up in that sort of situation. Those able to make full use of what they had were hard to come by.

Most of those who had Talents useful in combat ended up becoming Adventurers. So among Adventurers, finding people with Talents was supposed to be fairly easy. Momonga saw the proof of that now, he had encountered someone like that on his second day in the city!

Lukeluther ignored Ninya's attempts to dodge the subject. "I think his Talent has something to do with studying magic, isn't that right? He was able to learn magic that should have taken him eight years to master in only four. I can't use magic myself, so I'm not entirely sure how great that is."

Momonga was a spellcaster himself, and was deeply curious. He felt a collector's desire rise up within him. This was an ability foreign to the Great Tomb of Nazarick, and had the potential to strengthen the organization. 'If I can gain control of this ability somehow, it might be worth making enemies of everyone here….'

Shortening the time needed to learn new spells and abilities… the only thing he knew of that could do that was the Supreme Magic [Wish Upon A Star].

The two kept on talking, ignorant of Momonga's hungry gaze.

"Honestly, I'm just lucky. This Talent made it possible for me to become an Adventurer and take the first step toward my dream. Without it, I'd just die a lowly peasant after spending my life in toil."

Ninya's solemn muttering seemed to spread a depression around the room.

As if in response, Peter joined in with forced cheer. "Oh come on Ninya, you should be proud! You're a famous Talent holder in this city, that's something special!"

The younger man just shook his head. "Spare me, there are plenty of people more famous than me."

"You mean the leader of Blue Rose?"

"She's famous too, but I'm talking about people here in E-Rantel."

Dyne exclaimed "Ah, you must mean master Bareare!"

Momonga could not contain his curiosity. "Bareare? What kind of Talent does that person have?"

All four stopped what they were doing to stare at him. It would appear that the answer was common knowledge.

Momonga had jumped the gun, eager to satisfy his curiosity learn about an ability that could strengthen Nazarick. He cursed himself for his carelessness, and tried to find some way to recover from this mistake.

But before he could say anything, the other side came to a conclusion of their own.

It was Peter that spoke up. "Oh, I get it. No wonder we've never seen you before, even with all that fancy gear. You guys are from out of town aren't you?"

He thanked all the gods that he never believed in for this mercy of a question and quickly nodded. "That's correct, we only arrived in E-Rantel yesterday."

"No wonder you wouldn't know about Bareare then. I guess he's only famous in this city. You've really never heard of him before?"

"That's correct. If you wouldn't mind, could you tell me about him?"

Peter adjusted himself in his chair. "Well, that's not a problem. His name is Nfirea Bareare, and he's the grandson of the best potion maker in town, Lizzie Bareare. His Talent allows him to use any magical item. He can use scrolls from different spellcasting systems than what he uses, and can even use magic items created by Demi-humans. Even items restricted to special bloodlines or specific individuals shouldn't be a problem for him."

"Oh…."

Momonga tried to hide the awe in his voice.

How much could this talent do? Would he be capable of using the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, even though it was restricted to the Guildmaster? Would he be able to use World Items? Or was there some kind of limit?"

He felt that this individual could be very dangerous, but could also be very useful.

Lupusregina just smiled. "Sounds like an interesting guy~."

Lukeluther smiled happily at the sight. "Hey, sorry for us talking amongst ourselves for so long. So, what are your names?"

Momonga straightened himself in his chair, hoping to regain a noble, regal bearing. "I am Suzuki, an arcane spellcaster. To my right is Irri, a powerful Monk, and to my left is Erin, a Cleric. It's nice to meet you all."

The two maids nodded as he finished but said nothing.

Peter took control of the situation again. "It's nice to meet you all. I hope you don't mind if we get down to brass tacks? The truth of the matter is that what we're doing doesn't exactly count as a request."

The masked skeleton tried not to let his confusion show. "So you mean…."

The young warrior raised a hand to stall the question. "What I mean is that we're going to be hunting down monsters outside of town."

"Ah, I see."

'That should be enough to count as work. Or is there some special Adventurer reason that it doesn't count as a request? Is this like those requests on the board I saw that wanted people to hunt a certain number of a certain kind of monster?' Momonga didn't know, and he didn't want to ask and maybe make himself look stupid. So he went with a safer question.

"What kind of monsters will we be exterminating?"

"Ah, we're not exterminating specific monsters. We'll just be hunting monsters that we can find. If we bring in proof of the kills, the local government will pay us based on how strong the monsters were. What do they call it where you're from?"

'Oh, so that's what it is.' Rather than a Quest, this was more like hunting respawned monsters in YGGDRASIL just to farm money.

Dyne interjected in his deep baritone. "This is something we all have to do to make a living, especially right now."

Momonga's curiosity flared up. "Right now?"

Ninya scratched his head as he responded. "Yeah. Hunting monsters is nice and all, it helps everyone, but it doesn't pay as much as an actual request. But you saw the board right? There aren't that many requests for iron and silver plates right now, and the ones that ARE there aren't exactly plum assignments. So we're hoping to get enough money to make ends meet long enough for new silver plate requests to come in."

"I see, that makes sense." Momonga was well aware of what it was like having to wait for a seasonal product to hit the shelves.

Peter had an awkward look on his face. "I hope you guys don't think badly of us for this, but this is kind of the main reason we wanted to work with you. If you guys are as good as you say, which I don't disbelieve mind you, then we should be able to bring in a big haul. This will also get you more money than what the Guild usually offers for copper work, so everyone should benefit."

"That's not a problem, it's not bad to cooperate so that everyone comes out ahead. But, since we're talking about rewards, how exactly will we split the proceeds from this?"

Ninya jumped in again. "We talked it over a bit before we asked you. We were hoping to be able to split the money 50/50. I think that's fair, don't you?"

Momonga recalled Lucifer's words, to leverage his power for greater gains, but decided that this wasn't the time for it. "Splitting the money evenly shouldn't be a problem. So, where will we be looking for monsters, and what are we expecting to find?"

Peter stood up to get a map out of his pocket and spread it across the table. As Momonga looked it showed E-Rantel and its immediate environs.

The warrior pointed to a patch of green south of the city. "We'll be looking for monsters here, near the southern forest. We won't be going into the forest itself, we just aren't equipped to handle what lives there, so instead we'll be hunting things that emerge onto the plains. The monsters around there should be fairly weak, the only thing that can hit the back line would be goblins that have items granting flight. Unfortunately, we won't get much for killing such weak monsters, so we'll have to go for quantity over quality to make a real profit."

Momonga wasn't sure about this easygoing attitude. From what he could remember of YGGDRASIL's goblins, they could be anywhere from level one to level fifty and had a wide variety of different enemy types. So did that mean that they didn't expect to find powerful goblins? Or were this world's goblins just that weak?

"What will we do if a powerful goblin shows up?"

Peter responded with confidence. "We probably won't see any goblins that we'd have to worry about. While strong goblins do exist, they tend to be tribal leaders. They know that the plains are where humans live, and they know what happens when they get too uppity. They won't want to come out of there on their own, leaving their tribes unsupervised. It will give some lieutenant a chance to try and take over. And they won't mobilize their entire tribe and risk a serious subjugation force coming after them just to get us. So we shouldn't have anything to worry about as long as we stay out of the forest."

The young warrior faltered for a moment. "But, in the event that something serious DOES pop out of nowhere, we will have to let our hopes rest with you Mr. Suzuki. I hope you don't think less of us for this."

In other words, they were hoping he was going to power level them?

That was something he was deeply concerned about, in the grand scheme of things. If there were other Players out there, and they helped the locals level up, it could grow into a threat to Nazarick. Yet, when he brought up this fear, Lucifer just smiled and said nothing, silently dismissing his worry. It kind of pissed him off.

Of course, he had no intention of helping the people of this world get power unless he could be certain that they wouldn't turn on him.

But… one small expedition wouldn't let them grow THAT much. And if it turned out that the monsters were actually very dangerous, he'd think of a solution then.

"That's fine, if things get truly dangerous we'll definitely be able to handle it."

Peter smiled. "Well, that's a relief. I think that's about it. So how about it Mr. Suzuki? Shall we work together?"

Momonga nodded. "I don't see any problems with this arrangement. Let us fight together. Since we'll be working together for a while, I might as well let everyone see what I look like."

With that, Momonga took his mask in hand and shifted it, allowing light to shine on half of his face. Or rather, the illusion that he had cast over himself.

The four were quite surprised by what they saw. From his black eyes and black hair, he was evidently from a far off land.

"I'm surprised he looks as young as he does. For someone capable of Sixth Tier magic to be so young, I'm super jealous."

"Huh!? Young? He's on the wrong end of forty at least!"

"Well, compared to Fluder he's young…."

Peter ignored Ninya's muttering. "I've heard that people with dark hair live in the south, are you from that region?"

Momonga quickly replaced his mask. "Yes, the three of us have come from a distant land. I hope you don't mind if I keep my face covered. If people find out I'm a foreigner there might be trouble."

Of course, this didn't include the possibility that people would raise a fuss about Yuri's or Lupu's exotic looks. But it was a bullshit excuse to minimize the chance of people discovering his inhuman nature so Momonga didn't care. He just hoped that nobody would point out the fallacy and continued on.

"Since we'll be working together, we should dispel any doubts now. Does anybody have any questions for me?"

Lukeluther raised his hand immediately "Yes! I have a question! Me!"

After quickly looking over at his companions and seeing that he was the only one, he immediately continued, asking Yuri of all people "Tell me, just what is the relationship between the three of you?"

Momonga had no idea what the man meant, and so gave a simple answer. "… We are companions."

If the ranger's first question was strange, the next was flat out bizarre. He bowed his head to the surprised Yuri "I've fallen in love with you! It's love at first sight! Please go out with me!"

Everyone turned to look at Lukeluther. After a moment, Momonga realized that he wasn't just joking around and scrambled to figure out how to handle this ridiculous development. But while he tried to figure out what to say, all eyes turned to Yuri.

The eldest of the Battle Maids was probably the nicest of them, but she seemed distinctly annoyed for some reason. Her smile was strained as she looked at him and responded. "Thank you, but I'm not interested in a boyfriend at this time."

The Swords of Darkness took this response in stride, and Momonga sighed deeply in his heart, thankful for her normal response. If she had said something weird he had no idea what he'd do.

Lukeluther just bowed again. "Thank you for this firm rejection! Let us start off as friends!"

Yuri didn't seem to know how to respond to the man's advances, and Lupusregina just started laughing. "Man, this guy doesn't know when to give up does he su~?"

Peter just ignored his friend's antics and looked over to Momonga. "So, with that out of the way, shall we get going. The four of us are already fully prepared, how about you?"

Momonga thought about it for a moment. His group didn't have rations, but they had a response for that so there shouldn't be any problems.

"The three of us are prepared as well, let's get going."

"Okay then, Lukeluther wake up. It's time to get moving!"

With that, everybody left their seats and filed out of the room.

XXXXXXXX

The group made it as far as the main hall before the Swords of Darkness stopped in their tracks.

Momonga looked over to where they were staring and saw a man.

He was rather plain looking if you ignored the somewhat large nose. Short orange hair, dark blue eyes, average height, tan skin. Most of his body was concealed by his armor though. The solid plate was a dusky gray metal, with even darker edges outlining each individual piece. A short red scarf wrapped around his neck was the only other adornment he had.

The stranger was sitting on a barrel to the right of the door they just exited, scraping under the fingernails of one hand with what looked to be a silver dagger. As he continued the delicate work, he looked over their group of seven with a keen eye and lifted an eyebrow.

Momonga was getting tired of the staring. He looked down at Peter and asked the obvious question. "I hate to pry, but do you know this man?"

The man with the scarf nodded. "Yeah, he knows me. Don't mean to sound arrogant, but most people around here do. Go ahead young man, introduce us."

Peter gaped for a second before regaining his bearings. "U-um, right, okay. Um, Suzuki, I would like to introduce you to Master Bellote. He is the leader of Sky Wolf, one of the three Mythril Adventurer teams here in E-Rantel."

The hidden Overlord felt like taking a deep breath, even though he didn't have any lungs. Mythril was third from the top of the Adventurer ranking system, and the highest rank of Adventurer that lived in E-Rantel. And if this guy was the leader of a team, he was probably one of the most famous and powerful men in this city.

Momonga wasn't scared of the man if it came to a fight. But the real question was what one of the most powerful men in E-Rantel was doing waiting for him outside of his meeting.

'Have we been detected?'

If they had been discovered, there would be no hiding it if this Bellote guy exposed them in front of the entire Adventurers' Guild. A quick look around the room revealed no obvious preparations to capture him, nor did he detect anything hiding with invisibility. But he could see that everyone in the room was watching his group and this Mythril Adventurer. He got the impression that this guy was the real deal, and as influential as he feared.

Bellote nodded to the young man. "Quite right. And I'm afraid I'm here on official business." He turned his gaze to the disguised Momonga. "The Guild Master asked me to have a word with you regarding your… unusual request. Would you mind if we take a walk back to that meeting room you were all using? This should be discussed in private."

Momonga was getting seriously worried, and the maids could tell. He saw it as the two of them started to slowly prepare themselves to fight. Never before did he wish so badly that 'Telepathy' was a spell he could learn, it would save him a big headache right now. The last thing he needed was for his overzealous protectors to start something.

He gave a shallow bow in response as he shouted at the maids in his mind. "I have no problem with that. But I'm afraid I've agreed to take a job and I wouldn't want to abandon my allies here."

The leader of Sky Wolf just shrugged. "Fine, then they can come along. It doesn't matter if just a few people sit in. Is that fine with you kids?"

The Swords of Darkness looked at each other, apprehensive. The source of their unease was obvious, Momonga felt he could practically read their minds.

'Are we getting into something over our heads?'

They quickly came to a decision however, and Peter stepped forward. "If it's okay with the two of you, we would like to sit in on this if it affects our group as well."

Bellote hopped off of his barrel and sheathed the dagger in his belt. "No problem. Follow me."

Without another word he walked right past all seven of them and made his way towards the meeting room that they had just vacated. And, with only a couple of glances at their respective companions, the seven of them followed.

Scenarios rushed through Momonga's mind as he walked down the short hallway. Was he already discovered? Was he walking into an ambush right now?

He was an arcane spellcaster. By nature, he wanted to keep melee fighters away from him. It wasn't impossible that enemies had secreted themselves in the meeting room after they left it, and were waiting for this Bellote guy to lead them back in to spring an ambush. If they were only as strong as the mythril Adventurer, he would have nothing to worry about as far as his safety was concerned. But if they were powerful warriors… powerful Players… then he could be in real trouble if combat broke out in that tiny room.

'As much as I hate to say it, I'd have to rely on Yuri and Lupusregina to hold off any enemies long enough for me to teleport us out of there. They'd probably die, and I hate to put them in danger like that, but we would have no trouble resurrecting them…. On the other hand, those 'Swords of Darkness' might take our side if we get caught in an ambush. If that's the case, they can be the sacrifices. But what if they join in against us? If the attackers are people they know they might side with them against us without thinking. Maybe I can use mind control to turn them against the attackers to give us room to escape?

He was working out the ideal timing for casting a 'Mass Suggestion' spell when they reached the door.

Silently, Momonga, Yuri, Lupusregina, and the Swords of Darkness took their seats as Bellote rustled up a chair for himself and sat down. All the while, Momonga's metaphorical heart was in his throat as he looked around the walls in search of hidden ambushers.

He didn't see anything, but they might have been hidden inside the wall with a spell like 'Meld into Stone'.

Before his musings could go any further, Bellote cleared his throat. "Okay, it's like this. And bear in mind, this little conversation does not leave this room." His baleful gaze toward the Swords of Darkness left no question about who he was referring to.

Turning back to Momonga, he continued. "I'm going to speak frankly, I'm not one to beat around the bush when I don't have to. The Guild Master is caught in a bit of a bind. The big question is whether or not your team is as great as you claim. What you boasted about earlier at the front desk was… outlandish, to say the least. But you have impressive equipment, impressive enough to make Ainzach think that you could be the real deal."

Momonga was happy that he looked the part, but not really sure about where the Adventurer was going.

"So, the question is what to do with you. What he would _like_ to do is give you what you want and let you tackle that Drake. If you are as mighty as you claim, it shouldn't be an issue. If you're a bunch of fakes, you'll die horribly. And another team can be sent out to salvage all that impressive gear."

The masked overlord tilted his head. "So, he is going to let us take that request?"

Bellote shook his head. "No. As much as he'd like to do it, he can't. Red tape. As much as he might like to make an exception, he can't. There would be an uproar, not just from the local Adventurers, but from other Guild executives throughout the region. The first he can deal with, all he'd have to do is have you show off and the locals would shut up. But the other Guild Masters wouldn't be put off so easy. So he can't just throw you into the deep end. Especially if doing so actually gets you killed. That would get the other bigwigs all kinds of upset. So we're going to make a compromise."

He reached under his collar and pulled a rolled up piece of paper out from under his breastplate. When he spread it out on the table, Momonga saw that it was a request paper like the ones on the board.

CLEAR OUT THE UNDEAD FORTRESS

 _Villages to the southwest have been repeatedly assaulted by groups of undead. Seven different villages have been attacked, two of which had to be evacuated. Confirmed undead sightings so far include Skeletons, Skeleton Archers, Skeleton Mages, Skeleton Warriors, Red Skeleton Warriors, Zombies, Zombie Beasts, Zombie Ogres, Wraiths, Bone Vultures, and Ghouls. These Undead have been encountered in different numbers over the last two months, further details will be discussed upon accepting the request._

 _Recently, the movements of the Undead in the region were finally traced to a fortress near the eastern foothills of the southern mountains on the border with the Slane Theocracy. Preliminary reconnaissance indicates that this is the source of the undead scourge. This fortress must be infiltrated and cleared of all undead inhabitants. Full details of the fortress, including the existence of subterranean levels, are currently unknown. Full details of the inhabitants of the fortress are unknown. Full difficulty level is unknown, but considering the numbers and variety of the undead seen so far, is expected to be at least 80. Expect powerful undead defenders and prepare defenses against necromantic magic, curses, paralysis, poison, and disease._

 _The possibility exists that the difficulty of this request is too low. If this turns out to be the case, retreat and report this information so the difficulty can be raised appropriately._

Difficulty: MYTHRIL

REWARD: 400 Gold Coins, 50 Gold Coins for escaping with intelligence for future assaults.

As everyone looked over the paper, Momonga saw the Swords of Darkness turn pale.

Bellote waited for everyone to take a look before he spoke again. "We can't let you take a Mythril request on your own, the rules forbid it. And if you are what you say you are, the Guild Master doesn't want to get on your bad side by forcing you to go through low level requests and rank up examinations. But while he can't let you take a Mythril request on your own, there's nothing in the Guild by-laws against higher ranking Adventurers letting lower rank teams come along on their jobs."

Momonga finally understood what the offer was. "So, instead of letting us go off on our own, he'll have us accompany you and your team on a request you were going to tackle anyway."

Inside, Momonga approved of the idea. Rather than let pointless red tape stand in the way, the Guild Master came up with a clever means of granting a potentially powerful new recruit a way to prove themselves while simultaneously putting them in the custody of a group that could watch their every move and satisfy the requirements of the rules he had to follow so nobody could complain. It reminded him of one of the better supervisors he had had in his life. From the point of view of an office drone, he couldn't help but approve. It was the mark of a good boss.

The Mythril Adventurer nodded. "Exactly. If you do well, the Guild Master is prepared to offer immediate promotions to 'commend your valor'. After all, a Copper team excelling and holding their own on a request that would normally take a Mythril team is definitely a feat worthy of an instant promotion wouldn't you say?"

'So, he didn't just come up with a way to satisfy and test a brash new recruit, but to get him through all the pointless red tape in the future if he turns out to be as good as he seems.' Honestly, Momonga wanted to meet this Guild Master Ainzach. He felt that he might be able to learn from his management. But, at the same time he also wanted to avoid him.

If he was really that capable, he might be too smart for Momonga's disguise to fool. He wasn't sure if he should be happy or worried.

The Swords of Darkness were muttering among themselves, but Yuri, or rather, Irri, peered down at the request paper before asking a question. "Excuse me, but it says here that further details would be discussed after the request is accepted. Seeing as you have most likely accepted the request, could you talk to us about those details?"

Bellote's mouth twisted into a brief grimace before he started talking. "Not a whole lot to tell you. The executive I talked with used a lot of words but it pretty much boils down to 'the weaker undead are more numerous and the stronger undead are in fewer numbers'. Also, that list isn't entirely accurate."

He shifted around a little bit before continuing "This isn't a new problem. The problem of the Undead attacking those villages has been going on for more than a month. Plenty of requests have been coming in to defend this village, or investigate that claim, and what have you. That list is the sum total of what all of those Adventurers that went out there fought in that region. My own team took care of four of those requests, and we encountered a platoon of Skeletons backed up by a quartet of Skeleton Mages, a bunch of zombies following three Zombie Ogres, a pack of Wraiths hiding in a village graveyard, and a dozen Red Skeleton Warriors wandering the countryside and slaughtering everyone they came across."

The Swords of Darkness were looking at the man in awe of his accomplishments, but the young man, Ninya, spoke up. "So, while the list indicates the Undead that have been fought in the area, it doesn't necessarily reflect whatever garrison might be waiting in the fortress? Isn't the Guild supposed to investigate all the requests to make sure that the Adventurers going out are well prepared?"

The Mythril Adventurer nodded at the young man's question. "That's right, they are. But then you have to ask the obvious question. The Guild is supposed to investigate the requests. Who actually does the investigating and makes the reports?"

The Silver team looked at one another, baffled for a moment before Bellote answered his own question. "The Guild's staff is mostly made up of Adventurers that retired for one reason or another. For example, about half the receptionists out in the hall used to be Copper or Iron plate Adventurers before they found out that they weren't cut out for it. Maybe they reached their limits and got left behind, maybe their team got wiped out, maybe they just didn't want to fight anymore, who knows. The investigators are no different. The people looking into the requests tend to be former Gold or Platinum Adventurers who just aren't up for taking requests anymore. For checking out Copper, Iron, or Silver request difficulty, that's not so hard. But what happens when a few former Platinum Adventurers have to investigate something that's more than they can handle? That's where things start to get ambiguous. And that's when you start to get uncertain requests like these."

Bellote turned to look at Irri. "To answer your question, the investigators found the fortress and scouted the exterior. The place is basically a ring six towers connected by a tall, thick wall, with a big open courtyard in the middle. There's one gate, and it's nothing but iron bars so they could look into that courtyard. There's a lot of space, and it's mostly filled with various humanoid skeleton type monsters. But they weren't able to get a look at what lives inside the towers, so we don't know what to expect there. To be honest, the difficulty of this request has a very real chance of being wrong, and that's why the secondary reward is there. If it turns out to be too much, if this really turns out to be something we need an Orichalcum or Adamantite team to take care of, we need to find out as much as we can and get out alive so that the Guild can put the word out. Understand?"

Momonga was formulating a response when Lupusregina, or Erin, spoke up. "Okay, so… if we agree to help you out how are we splitting the reward?"

The older Adventurer just shrugged. "I have five people on my team, so we'll split it eight ways. Everyone gets an equal share, that's as fair as fair can be. So, does you asking about the reward mean that you're considering the request?"

The Overlord suppressed a flash of annoyance at Lupusregina for asking about something like that so brazenly, it weakened their position in the negotiation. And he didn't really think that such a split was exactly fair. If one team ended up doing most of the work, shouldn't the reward reflect that? 'But, if it comes down to it, accepting a smaller part of the reward would help spread our reputation as being fair wouldn't it? That's probably worth the money we'd make by insisting on a larger share….'

He looked over at Bellote. "We're certainly considering it, but at the same time I wouldn't want to back out of a previously made agreement and leave my allies here out in the cold." He looked over at the Swords of Darkness, who immediately started looking sheepish.

Peter waved a hand "Oh, no Mr. Suzuki, we wouldn't want to inconvenience you. Don't hold any agreements we made earlier to be binding for something like this. This is definitely a more important job than hunting goblins on the plains. On top of that, we don't want to be responsible for holding you back. If you don't take an incredible opportunity like this just to humor us we wouldn't sleep at night."

Dyne the Druid nodded. "Agreed, we wouldn't want to act as a burden to someone aspiring to promotion. Although…" he shot a sidelong glance at Bellote "All that talk of being 'prepared to offer promotions' is rather sketchy Mr. Bellote."

The Mythril Adventurer shrugged. "That's the way of the world kid. Sometimes the rules get bent so that the people at the top get what they want. And be aware…" he shot the Druid a mild glare "That this is the sort of thing I was talking about when I said that what gets said in here, stays in here. Nobody needs every Adventurer in town griping about some exception to the usual rules."

The druid grit his teeth a little, but subsided. Meanwhile Momonga was thinking of a way to get more out of this.

'It might be dangerous, but it's important to spread my fame quickly. That would work better with lots of witnesses. In the worst case, Lupusregina knows 'Raise Dead'. But would it be seen as being willing to risk lives for no real gain? It might be interpreted as being too clingy to existing arrangements. Hmmm, you guys, why aren't you here to help me out? '

Finally, he decided to take the risk. "Hmm, Bellote-san, if we accept the request, might you consider taking these four along with us as well?"

Bellote raised an eyebrow in response, while the Swords of Darkness were beside themselves.

"What?! No way!"

"Mr. Suzuki I don't think you've thought that through."

"I'm honored, but…."

"As much as I'd love to spend more time with Irri… I don't think…."

Bellote waited a minute for the frantic Silver plates to calm down before he added his opinion. "With all due respect Suzuki, I don't think that would be a good idea. I appreciate your wanting to look out for your new friends, but trying to take these kids on a job like this is asking for trouble. I mentioned before that it isn't against the rules for higher ranking teams to invite lower ranking Adventurers to assist them, but while it isn't against the rules it isn't exactly common either. I'm sure you can imagine why. And when it does happen, the gap isn't this big. The only reason you guys, a Copper team, are being considered to help me is because of the obvious extenuating circumstances. Please keep that in mind, and understand that I cannot bring these four with us in good conscience."

Momonga inwardly cursed as everyone simultaneously rejected his request. 'Oh well, it was worth a try.' He'd just have to work that much harder to get Bellote and his team to spread word of his deeds. But this would be a good chance to confirm something.

"I have to ask, do you four find the undead on this list that terrifying? What do you think you could handle?" 'With any luck, this will help me determine just how strong the lower ranks are.'

Ninya scrunched up his lips as he considered the paper for a moment before answering. "Most of the skeleton types- the normal ones, the Archers, and the Riders, we wouldn't have any problems with. The ghouls and zombies and Bone Vultures wouldn't be too scary either unless we were attacked in huge numbers. But the Wraiths would be very dangerous since we don't have many ways to attack incorporeal undead. And we wouldn't be able to hope to handle the Zombie Ogres or Red Skeleton Warriors either. As for the normal Skeleton Warriors, we could only handle one or two of them at a time without being overwhelmed. I can't imagine what could be leading a horde like this except maybe a Lich, but if we ran into something like that we'd just die."

The young man bowed his head. "I'm sorry Mr. Suzuki, and I thank you for your consideration, but even if you offered to take us along on this request we would have to refuse. An Adventurer has to know his limits or else he'll just get killed. This request is too much for us to come along, even just to act as a supporting role."

Seeing the boy's other teammates nod in agreement, Momonga had no choice but to accept defeat. And he couldn't fault them, they were right after all. Even in YGGDRASIL, foolishly challenging areas you weren't prepared for was a good way to lose levels and items fast. They were right to be cautious.

He glanced at his two companions. They each nodded back to him. To Momonga, the gestures spoke of a willingness to accept whatever decision he made. Although to any outsider it looked like long time companions silently communicating and coming to an agreement.

The overlord looked over at the Swords of Darkness. "Very well then, I won't press any further on the subject. And I thank you for making this decision easier for me."

He looked over to the patiently waiting Bellote. "We'll accept the request. We can leave as soon as your team is ready."

The Mythril Adventurer nodded without giving any sign of triumph or relief. "Good. I'll inform the Guildmaster. My team is scattered throughout the town getting ready to go. We were planning to meet up at the West gate tomorrow morning, so you can meet us then. It'll be good to work with you, I'm expecting great things."

Bellote stood up and extended his hand to shake.

Momonga stood up and exchanged grips with the stoic man.

"It will be good to work with you too. I expect to show you great things."

XXXXXXXXX

So… that's all I've got at the moment. Sorry if it's a little puny considering the size of previous chapters, and the… oh… nearly six month wait.

I'll probably post another chapter sooner rather than later containing the scenes I wanted to add onto the end of this one featuring Tigris Euphrates and what he's getting up to in E-Rantel and fitting Zuranon into the changing picture.

This is the first shift from the canon outline that the story followed up until this point, so I hope you all enjoyed it and will bear with me as the changes gradually shift the story into entirely new territory.

Thank you for your patience and I hope to see you in the next chapter sooner rather than later.


	12. Chapter 12

Last Remnants chapter twelve

Well, it took a little while to get here, but I finally managed. And, more importantly, I managed to get it out before the new year! So that's my New Year's Resolution for 2017 met. I'm trying to remember the last time I actually kept up with one of those. It has been quite a while.

Celebrations aside, sorry this took so long. This entire year has been a mess. Hopefully next year will be better, and with it my rate of updates.

Now then, on with the show!

XXXXXXXXX

Tigris Euphrates slowly wandered from rooftop to rooftop in the cold E-Rantel night. Well, slowly for him, so most people couldn't possibly follow his movements.

He was taking a moment to relax and observe the results of his earlier stunts. Plundering the middle class, the pharmacists, and smalltime traders just didn't do the job. Hitting the government seemed to finally do the job and get a proper response though and the Adventurers were finally coming out to play. Not that he expected much.

The giant man had already taken a look at most of these so-called 'Adventurer' and they had fallen in with previous examples of what this world was used to working with. While he had yet to see what the highest ranked teams were capable of, all the Adventurers he had seen so far would be no match for even the weakest of Nazarick's Area Guardians.

Still, he wasn't the type to just ignore people who were hunting him. If they wanted to play, he was more than willing to play with them. A wide, white smile graced his features as he came to a stop above a group of five patrolling down a street in the richer side of town.

Armored, armed, necklaces with metal plates, and obviously on the lookout in the deserted street, they were definitely looking for him. That made them fair game.

A few quick steps brought him ahead of the group and he was able to see their plates clearly. A platinum Adventurer team.

Tigris shook his head, he was hoping to see one of the Mythril groups. He knew that there were three around town, but he had yet to encounter them. But judging from what Momonga said about that Bellote guy, he wasn't expecting them to break the mold of weakness that spawned these cretins and all those beneath them.

Said cretins silently passed beneath him, lanterns out, spellcasters using enhanced vision and other detection spells, someone who looked like a thief looking around real hard, and the burly guy in armor looking intimidating and useless. Easy prey.

He slipped to the ground behind them and silently cursed as he landed more roughly than he intended. Rather than a completely silent drop, he made the noise of feathers falling on snow. A quick glance confirmed that the Adventurers were clueless, but someone close to his level would have spotted him for that mistake.

'I really need to practice more. I need to get as good as I used to be.' The years away from YGGDRASIL robbed him of a lot, and even with nightly studying and practice it was hard to recover skills he had neglected for years.

But those thoughts were dismissed as he stalked behind the group, focusing on the spellcaster right at the back.

He was a clueless looking wimp. Tall, stringy and scrawny, wearing a blue robe, a belt around his waist carrying a large case full of who-knows-what, and clutching a staff in both hands as he peered around with some kind of vision spell over his eyes.

Tigris stole up right behind him and cut the cord his plate was attached to. A single fingernail did the job, and he whipped the plate away from the younger man's neck. Simultaneously, his other hand lifted that case off his belt. Then he was back on the roof, quick as lightning, without making a sound or moving the air.

The mooks walked on while Tigris opened up the case and slipped the necklace into his pocket. Inside were a bunch of little compartments full of herbs and powders. Nothing particularly valuable. The only interesting things were the two blue potions and another small bag containing some money. He slipped the whole thing into his inventory and kept watch over his marks. That mage was pretty dull, but he'd realize what happened soon.

Sure enough, after another minute wizard boy realized that he had been burgled and started making a fuss and looking around as though he dropped the damn things. But, the idiots did what Tigris hoped they would do and all turned around to look at him.

While they wasted time doing that, the Efreeti dropped to the street just behind the warrior who was at the head of their band. Before anyone even realized he was there he had already taken the shield off the guy's back, the necklace around his neck, his purse, and the sword from his hip, and retreated back to the darkness of the rooftops.

The Ranger of their group was the first to notice the warrior's missing equipment. Once she pointed it out, all five of them were in a tizzy. Tigris struggled not to laugh as he watched them form a circle, back to back, as if that would help them.

When their priest raised his holy symbol, Tigris marked his next target and ducked to the other side of the sloped roof he was crouched on.

"[Flash]!"

A burst of illumination covered the street, but didn't reveal the Efreeti in his hiding place. With a silent chuckle, he jumped into the night sky, coming to a silent landing in the middle of their little circle. Two quick grabs and then he was a swift wind, billowing the wizard's robes as he retreated to a dark alleyway. When he reformed, he tucked the priest's holy symbol, and the ranking plates of the priest and the thief into his pocket. Then back up to the roof top, carefully avoiding the light from their lanterns.

He peered down at the now scared Adventurers. The thief had his knife out, the Ranger had her bow out with an arrow knocked, and the wizard clutched his staff looking like he meant to use it, somehow. The Warrior and the Priest both fell back to knives as secondary weapons. There was only one target left.

Tigris made to step out of concealment and try for his last prize when an arrow went whizzing by his cheek.

The giant looked down at the group, gobsmacked that they actually spotted him, when he saw that the Ranger was shooting at each rooftop in turn. The shocked was reduced to disbelief. She didn't spot him, she was just shooting blind and nearly got lucky. He growled, deep and low. That was both incredibly stupid move and deserving of punishment.

The wizard cast some spell that made the whole street around him glow. Apparently he thought that would help somehow. The Ranger had calmed down enough to stop shooting arrows at whatever random shadows she saw, and the group had come even closer together, not leaving room in their little circle for him to slip inside.

Well, it's not like he needed it.

He pulled a pair of tiles off the roof and got into position before chucking them to either side of the party and moving in.

Sure enough, just as the two tiles hit the ground and shattered, the Adventurers turned in those two directions. And then he was there behind the Ranger without anyone able to see him.

A quick grab took the Ranger's plate from around her neck. The other theft took just a bit more time, it was a little more involved, but as he slipped away into the shadows with his prize he considered the reaction worth the effort.

Sure enough, it was only a few seconds before a scream of feminine rage and indignity surged through the area. "THAT BASTARD TOOK MY PANTIES!"

Tigris smiled a big smile as he peered around the corner of the alleyway he was hiding in. Getting the Ranger's panties off was a little difficult considering the tight pants she was wearing, but it was a simple problem to get around. He just took a fingernail and sliced up one thigh, across the back just beneath the belt, and down the other thigh. It let the whole section fall like a flap, baring his prize. Two quick cuts later and he just pulled the whole undergarment free, leaving the trigger happy Ranger bare-ass in the cold.

He held out the ruined piece of cloth from where he was hiding, dangling it just where they would see it, taunting.

Sure enough, numerous arrows came whizzing into the darkness, followed by one pissed off female. The rest of her group was just a second and a half behind her as she charged to avenge her indignity.

Tigris just shook his head. Apparently a single punishment wasn't enough to teach her to avoid reckless risks.

There was no way she actually saw him, he was practically invisible even without using any spells or skills. So as the Ranger ran past him, he quickly stepped out and plucked the bow from her hands. Then he brought his open palm down on her exposed rear before jumping up to the rooftops unseen.

The red giant paused as he heard them fumbling around, fruitlessly searching for him. He couldn't help but laugh. This new body had a good voice for it, it was deep, mocking, condescending. Everything he felt for these reckless idiots.

Then he was gone, zipping across the rooftops to find other playmates, the stolen bow and the last platinum plate tucked away in his Inventory.

He hoped that he could find one of those Mythril teams before the night was over. If even the Platinum Adventurers were that easy to roll over then this would hardly count as practice at all.

XXXXXXXXX

A few hours later found the red giant waltzing around the poorer part of the city. In total, three Platinum and four Gold Adventurer teams found and humiliated, their plates stolen along with some of their equipment.

'I just can't seem to find those Mithril teams anywhere. Did they just not take the request?'

It was disappointing, but that only meant that he had to try harder.

'Some way to send a message, something to really get them good and mad….'

As he was pondering the problem, something caught his eye. A cloaked figure on the ground below. Normally this wouldn't mean anything, there were loads of cloaked figures in the city at night, but this one moved with a grace he had never seen in a human since he and his Guild were moved to this new world.

Of course, by the standards of a high level thief it was downright clumsy, but this individual was head and shoulders above everyone else he had seen today.

'Is this one of those Mithril Adventurers sneaking around on their own?'

Intrigued, Tigris set out to follow the mysterious figure. Where were they going in such a hurry all alone?

Shadowing the mystery man was disappointingly easy. While his mark moved with a speed and grace that was leaps and bounds better than anything else he had seen outside of Nazarick, it was nothing compared to what a max level thief character could bring to bear. So he followed the target unerringly as the guy moved through alleyways and doubled back on himself. Wherever he was going, he didn't want anybody following him. And that made Tigris all the more interested in where he was headed

It took some time, but eventually the stalking paid off as the cloaked person meandered their way towards E-Rantel's massive graveyard. Not as easy to follow someone unseen as it was from the rooftops of the poor district, but with the massive gap in level this made no difference as Tigris stalked his quarry through the tombstones.

Finally, the figure stopped in front of a big mausoleum. And that was when the figure lowered their hood.

Tigris' jaw dropped as the woman shook her blonde hair free of the hood and quickly looked around. The pale skin, deep red eyes, and what he could make out of her figure when the cloak shifted all served to strike the red giant right between the eyes and short circuit his brain.

'Woah'

He watched, stunned as the vision of perfection walked into the tomb and manipulated some device hidden in a coffin that made it move before heading down the set of revealed stairs.

It took a minute for Tigris to regain his bearings and calm his hammering heart. 'Calm down, calm down, focus. Goddess is a graveyard, hidden stairway in a tomb, find out why, ogle later. FOCUS!'

The Efreeti didn't want to chance going down the stairs himself. Who knew what might be down there. While he didn't think there was going to be anything that could threaten him, better safe than sorry. A bit of scouting would be wise.

So, he turned to magic, one of his old favorite spells. He pulled a thick scroll out of his inventory and unrolled it. The thing was long enough to reach his knees, which wasn't unexpected. It was an Eighth Tier spell after all. Normally magic like this would be out of his reach, nor would he be able to use a scroll of this kind since he wasn't an Arcane spellcaster. But, as he advanced into the rogue and thief type classes he specialized in, he eventually obtained a skill that let him disguise his classes. This would even trick a scroll into thinking he had the required traits to use it. So there wasn't a problem as he invoked the magic.

"[Greater Prying Eyes]"

The scroll disintegrated in his hands, only for the dust to coalesce into a dozen floating, translucent spheres each the size of a marble. But as they came into being Tigris barely contained a shout and fell to one knee clutching his head in pain.

'D-dammit, I didn't expect something like this…."

His mind was suddenly overwhelmed by a dozen different new feeds of sight and sound. In YGGDRASIL, the spell would create a bunch of tabbed windows that would act as new video feeds, but in this New World the spell's method of conveying information had changed.

The giant staggered to his feet, trying to get a hold on all the new sensations, and tried to make the eyes move… but he couldn't do it. The moment he moved one eye the pain spiked into his head again.

Reluctantly, he did the only thing he could do to reduce the burden. He reached out and crushed one of the eyes in his fist. As the eye was destroyed one of the feeds stopped, and the pain his head was reduced. But eleven was hardly better than twelve. So he reached out and crushed another.

And another, and another, and another, until finally the strain went away.

He was left, panting, with only three of the magical sensors in front of him, but the massive headache was gone. 'I'll just have to work with three, I doubt that will be so hard.'

Tigris silently commanded one eye to float on top of the mausoleum, another one to float near the ceiling of the tomb's interior, and finally sent the third one down the hidden stairs that the beauty had revealed. Then he sat down behind a tombstone to wait and see what the magic revealed.

The magical eye showed him that the stairs led down to a hidden basement, and he could hear what sounded like zombies and skeletons shuffling around down there, out of sight, but the one he was looking for wasn't too far from the bottom of the stairs. She was talking to some pale guy in robes clutching a big black pearl. He focused all his attention on the conversation.

After a few moments of eavesdropping, he had discovered two crucial pieces of information.

First and most importantly, the beauty's name was Clementine, although he was pretty sure that wasn't her real name.

Second though….

Tigris quickly cast a spell. "[Message]"

"Hello? Lucifer? You there?"

"[Hmm? Tigris? Yes, I'm here, what's going on?]"

The giant thief squinted his eyes as he tried to focus on the conversation in the mausoleum while he talked via magic at the same time. "I have a very important question. Ask your pet priest to tell you everything he knows about a group called Zuranon. They're numbers, how powerful they are, their goals, the works. I need answers to those questions immediately."

"[Okay, on it. I'll call you back in a few minutes.]"

After that the spell cut out. Tigris continued to focus on the two and tried to learn as much as he could. Clementine was from the Slane Theocracy's Black Scripture, their most elite unit, and he immediately marked her as an incredibly important intelligence asset for that reason alone. More importantly, she had fled the country after stealing one of their most important relics. She was offering to help the Necromancer, Khajiit, with his plans for E-Rantel in exchange for his assistance in hiding from pursuers sent by the Theocracy to kill her and get the relic back.

This was information he could work with.

Ideas raced through his mind as to how he could best take advantage of the situation and get the most out of it for Nazarick, and he quickly put together an idea that would, hopefully, bring Nazarick nothing but gain.

That was when he was Messaged again.

"[Okay, you said this was important so I'll talk fast. Zuranon is a powerful death cult that's infamous in this whole region. They're led by twelve Disciples and specialize in spellcasting and Necromancy. They have a habit of attacking cities with undead creatures, so every human nation constantly keeps an eye out for them. They are considered to be extremely dangerous by all human governments. However, they can't seem to wipe them out because they have contacts in every human nation that help hide them and their activities. Also, a few of the Disciples are particularly strong, according to Nigun at least. So even though they've all been trying to wipe out Zuranon for at least two hundred years, no matter who tries they've never been able to kill more than six of the Disciples at any one time. They have spies, resources, safe houses, magic items, and plenty more. Their most recent major accomplishment was about twenty years ago when they turned a city into a massive Necropolis. Overall, a potent force on the international scene. So, why the interest?]"

Tigris hummed under his breath as he considered his words and listened to the ongoing negotiations. "Well, during my scouting of this rat's nest you hate so much, I found an interesting person and followed her into the graveyard. I'm currently eavesdropping on a very interesting conversation regarding the future of this city. And, from listening to what they've been saying and what you've told me. I have a very interesting idea."

"[An interesting idea huh? Do tell.]"

So, Tigris laid it out for him. The ploy the red giant outlined would have chilled the bones of any human who overheard, and it would have erased any doubts as to the fact that this monster was indeed a Heteromorphic being.

The angel on the other end was silent for several long moments after Tigris finished explaining his idea.

"[You know, there are times when I wonder why the two of us are friends. Then, every now and then, you come up with something brilliant like this and remind me why.]"

The Efreeti smiled into the graveyard gloom. "So, you like it?"

"[Oh, I like it alright. It benefits us on a bunch of different levels. Go for it, if they agree I'll start preparations on this end immediately.]"

"Okay, but shouldn't this be put to a group decision? It's kind of a big decision."

"[Don't worry about it, I'll get Herohero to agree. That's a majority decision, nobody can complain. Although it would be best if the ooze never realizes that he's agreeing to something that's already happened.]"

"That's fine by me, but what about Momonga? This has the potential to ruin his whole hero-in-the-making supreme spellcaster idea."

"[Not a problem, we can work him into this somewhere. It helps that he's planning to leave the city tomorrow. Pass a message to him, tell him to take his time on his expedition down south. If we time his return just right, we can play both sides of the field and get even more out of this.]"

"Alright, I'll tell him. They seem to be wrapping things up down there, so I'll go and make my pitch. Do me a favor, put together a couple of trinkets for me. Stuff that these guys will like. I'm thinking a Book of the Dead, a Ghoul Stone, and something else related to the undead of a similar level, you can come up with something. They'll be good negotiation tools."

"[You got it. Real quick though, do me a favor.]"

"What's that?"

"[After you've sealed the deal, make reservations for two at that fancy restaurant you mentioned. Tell them to reserve a private room. If things go as planned, this will be my only opportunity to see what they've got.]"

"Heh, sure. No problem."

Tigris cut the connection without another word, and made his way into the mausoleum and down the stairs, shrinking to a mere five and a half feet tall as he did so.

At the bottom, the chambers were colder than the chilly graveyard on the surface and lit only by the occasional torch, leaving broad swathes of shadow. He could hear the shuffling of the undead deeper in, as well as a dozen human heartbeats concealed in the gloom, but he paid no attention to any of them.

He only had eyes for the bald Disciple and the beautiful blonde woman who stopped their posturing to stare at him as he walked into the room.

"Hoo~~ who the hell are you~?"

As Clementine crooned her question, Tigris did everything he could to not freeze in place as he saw what the woman wore under her robe. It was light armor, made of the plates of numerous Adventurers. He could see every metal they used except Adamantite, from Copper to Orichalcum. More importantly, it was pretty much just a bikini, covering her groin and chest, but leaving vast expanses of her thighs, chest, and belly bare.

'Oh. My. God. Stay cool Tigris, stay cool, act natural, don't stare.' He could hardly focus on his thoughts, his heart was pounding out of his chest.

"Hellooo~ I asked you who you are? Actually, make that what the hell are you?"

He had stepped out of the shadows, revealing his inhuman features.

But just as Tigris was about to speak, he had to deal with an interruption first. Quick as a flash Clementine was in front of him, stabbing a short sword, a stiletto, straight towards his eye. "It's not polite to ignore people you know~!"

The Efreeti simply reached up and caught the blade between his index finger and thumb, the tip only half an inch from his eye. The vision of beauty before him was stunned, but it was only to be expected. That was faster than any human he had seen in this world so far, but to a level one hundred character who focused on agility above all else it was painfully, painfully slow.

He canceled his skill, causing himself to swell and grow back to his normal ten feet of height, Clementine gaping at the sudden change before he lightly, as lightly as he could possibly manage, tossed her back towards the necromancer Khajiit. The man himself was doing something with that black orb, the Orb of Death he called it, and sure enough a Skeletal Dragon started to emerge from the ground behind him. Clementine flipped in midair, coming to a smooth landing beside him, and plainly readied herself for a fight. All around him, hidden in the shadows, the various cultists muttered spells under their breath and erected defenses in preparation for battle.

Tigris held out his hands in front of him "Hang on, hang on, wait a moment, I'm not here to fight!"

They plainly didn't really believe him, but at the very least his words kept them from immediately attacking him.

Khajiit looked up at him from behind the forelegs of the emerging Skeletal Dragon. His voice was dry and raspy, just like it had been when he heard it through the spell. "If you aren't here to fight, then what are you here for? Who are you? What are you? How did you find this place?"

The red giant gave them a big smile, causing the lesser acolytes to shudder. "Well, my name is Tigris Euphrates. I am a leader of a powerful group of heteromorphic creatures. I found this place by following the gorgeous Clementine over there after I was done playing with Adventurers for the evening."

The Necromancer looked over at Clementine, clearly angry that someone had led an unknown factor to his temple. The woman herself looked disbelieving, as though she couldn't have possibly been followed.

Tigris spoke up before they could start to argue.

"You want to know what I am, well I am what is known as an Efreeti. As for what I want…"

The greatest Thief of Ainz Ooal Gown let his smile grow even wider.

"I'm here to make your wishes come true."

XXXXXXXXX

Sorry this took so long everyone, the last three months have been hell. I simply didn't really have enough time to work on this until I managed to get some time off here at the holidays, so I hope you all enjoyed.

I know it's more of a setup chapter than anything, but it should whet your appetites for what will be coming in the next few chapters as events start to grow in a different direction than canon.

I figure that many will be thinking that a certain development happened rather quickly. Well, the change from human to Heteromorph causes different changes depending on the Heteromorphic species that the person becomes. Momonga, for example, has difficulty feeling anything. Whenever he has an emotion that's powerful enough it get shut down.

Tigris is the opposite. Rather than having his emotions forcefully deadened, his emotions flare and boil. This is especially true when it comes to more passionate emotions. He can have surges of burning rage, or, in this case, lust and desire. He has about as much control over it as Momonga does over his emotion override. But the results are what matter.

Sorry that this chapter was kind of short though, I'll try and get the next one to be a bit longer.

See you next chapter.


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